DOJ prosecutors ask Muntinlupa court to reconsider De Lima acquittal

Department of Justice prosecutors asked a Muntinlupa court to overturn its ruling that upheld the acquittal of Mamamayang Liberal Representative Leila de Lima and her former driver Ronnie Dayan in a drug-related case.

The prosecutors said in their motion for reconsideration that De Lima and Dayan should be found guilty of conspiracy to commit illegal drug trading, adding that the Court of Appeals’ directive for the Muntinlupa Regional Trial Court Branch 204 to review the case was ‘’not complied with.’’

In the revised decision dated June 27, Judge Abraham Joseph Alcantara insisted that the recantation of former Bureau of Corrections officer-in-charge Rafael Ragos' testimony on De Lima and Dayan’s involvement in the illegal drug trade was ''sufficient basis for the RTC to uphold the constitutionally guaranteed presumption of innocence.''

Ragos had claimed that he and aide Jovencio Ablen Jr. delivered P10 million in proceeds from the illegal drug trade inside the New Bilibid Prison to then-justice secretary De Lima's house in Parañaque City in November and December 2012.

In 2022, Ragos retracted his testimony against De Lima.

“However, the Honorable Court failed to disprove the voluntariness and veracity, nay, even consider, the earlier testimony given by witness Ragos in open court and in other venues, including the surrounding circumstances thereof, which the prosecution duly established by sufficient evidence,’’ the motion said.

‘’Simply put, there was no comparison made between the original statement of witness Ragos and his retracted statement, and [no] explanation why the latter should be believed.’’

Ragos’ original testimony, the prosecutors said, was ‘’corroborated on all material points by the other witnesses,’’ particularly on the two deliveries of P5 million to De Lima and Dayan at her residence and the source of the money.

‘’The corroborative and uncontroverted testimony of Ablen still stands,’’ the prosecutors said.

They also cited the statements of several Bilibid inmates regarding the raising of funds for De Lima's Senate candidacy, as well as those of Reynaldo Esmeralda, to whom Ablen allegedly recounted the money delivery incident.

“To set aside a testimony [that] was solemnly taken before a court of justice in an open and free trial and under conditions precisely sought to discourage and forestall falsehood simply because one of the witnesses who had given testimony later on changed his mind would simply make a mockery of our criminal justice system,” the prosecutors said.

Reacting to the motion, De Lima said, "I don't understand what the prosecution is trying to do! Put me in triple jeopardy after nearly 7 years in unjust detention? Hindi na lang katawa-tawa ang ginagawa nila, nakakagalit na (What they are doing is not just ridiculous; it's infuriating).''

Her legal counsel, Boni Tacardon, said the prosecutors filed the motion ''apparently without the conformity of both the Office of the Prosecutor General and the Office of the Solicitor General.''

''We see this as a clear case of prosecutorial misconduct and violative of the constitutional right of Representative De Lima against double jeopardy. We are currently studying the possibility of filing charges against the panel members,'' he said. —VBL, GMA Integrated News