De Lima camp mulls petition for bail after Ragos testimony

The camp of former senator Leila de Lima on Friday said it is eyeing filing a petition for bail for the latter after former Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) officer-in-charge Rafael Ragos finishes his testimony.

“‘Yang petition for bail na ‘yan ay magiging hakbang namin kung saka-sakaling matapos na talaga ang testimonya ni deputy director Ragos,” lawyer Boni Tacardon, De Lima's legal counsel, said in an ambush interview.

(The petition for bail will be our next step after Ragos finishes his testimony.)

The hearing on one of the remaining cases against De Lima resumed on Friday with the former senator and Ragos in attendance.

Tacardon said the prosecution has finished its questions and is seeking to present the video of Ragos fulfilling his supplemental affidavit.

“Hindi naipakita dahil meron pang motion ‘yung prosecution na i-upo ‘yung videographer para patunayan ‘yung authenticity ng video,” he said.

(The video was not shown because the prosecution made a motion to have the videographer testify in order to prove the authenticity of the video.)

In November, former Justice secretary Vitaliano Aguirre said he had a video that showed that Ragos was not coerced into making the affidavit.

However, for Tacardon, only Ragos could say whether he had been coerced.

“Ang sa amin kasi, no, ang makakapagsabi kung siya ay pinilit o tinakot, o sinuhulan ay ‘yung tao mismo na apektado,” he said.

(For us, the only one who could really say if he really was coerced, or scared into submission, or bribed is the person who is actually affected.)

Meanwhile, the lawyer said De Lima is “okay and still fighting.”

“Ang sabi nga niya paglabas niya, the hearing went well. So that means justification na she’s okay. She’s going through the legal process at handa siyang harapin talaga itong kasong ito,” he said.

(She said when she went out that the hearing went well. So that’s justification that she’s okay. She’s going through the legal process and she is ready to face this case.)

De Lima has been detained at Camp Crame since 2017 over drug allegations in the New Bilibid Prison. One of the three drug charges against her was junked by the Muntinlupa court in February last year.—AOL, GMA Integrated News