De Lima wants ex-BuCor OIC back as accused in drug case

Lawyers for Senator Leila de Lima have asked a Muntinlupa court to reinstate former Bureau of Corrections officer-in-charge Rafael Ragos as her co-accused in a drug trafficking case.

Ragos' exclusion from the case was unjustified given existing jurisprudence and his supposed position as the "most guilty" party, the defense said in a motion before the Muntinlupa Regional Trial Court Branch 205.

Prosecutors from the Department of Justice (DOJ) withdrew Ragos as an accused in 2017, when they moved to change their charge against De Lima from illegal drug trading to conspiracy to commit illegal drug trading.

The trial court, then presided by a judge who has since inhibited, allowed the amended charge and effectively dropped Ragos from the case.

In their motion, the defense argued that the court erred by solely relying on the recommendation of the prosecution to exclude Ragos and by failing to specifically explain why it allowed the move.

The exclusion was also "baseless" because it was not decided through a reinvestigation, they said, adding that Ragos also cannot be discharged as a witness without a hearing.

They also argued that Ragos' testimony as witness is not "absolutely necessary" because the prosecution has at least 40 witnesses, which they said shows the former BuCor chief "has no monopoly of knowledge of the alleged crime."

More, the Supreme Court ruling that found there was probable cause to issue arrest warrants against De Lima, her former aide Ronnie Dayan, and Ragos should bind the Muntinlupa court, they said.

'Integrity issues'

The defense also argued Ragos is the most guilty party in the case because he has "admitted to dealing with the drug lords in the New BIlibid Prison (NBP) and has also admitted receiving weekly taras."

"An independent and thorough assessment of the evidence would easily show that Ragos, if the charges were indeed true, was the hub that tied the whole drug trading in the NBP, at least during the time that he was the OIC of BuCor," they stated in the motion.

Defense lawyer Filibon Tacardon also said a prosecution witness himself testified that Ragos benefited from the illegal drug trade.

During De Lima's trial on Friday morning, the witness, former police Criminal Investigation and Detection Group chief General Benjamin Magalong, said he had been informed that Ragos received payola from drug personalities in Bilibid.

He answered in the affirmative when asked by the defense if Ragos had "integrity issues." De Lima, on the other hand, had "none," he said when similarly prompted. He also said the senator's name did not emerge as among those involved in the Bilibid drug trade.

Magalong testified in connection with a December 2014 raid of the NBP by the DOJ that yielded contraband such as drugs, deadly weapons and firearms.

De Lima was DOJ secretary at the time.  

Magalong said the CIDG suggested and helped plan the raid but was eventually left out of the operation. While "relatively successful," the raid could have uncovered more had the CIDG been involved in its implementation, he said.

The trial will resume on March 15. — RSJ, GMA News