Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 18) — Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque has one thing to tell Senator Leila de Lima following her acquittal in one of her drug charges: Don’t celebrate just yet.
“Wala po tayong reaksyon diyan kasi nakakulong pa rin siya. Kaya nga po siya nakakulong pa rin kasi meron pa po siyang dalawang kaso,” he said in his government briefing on Thursday.
[Translation: We don’t have any reaction to that because she’s still in jail. She is detained in the first place because she has two more cases.]
He added: “So bakit po siya magse-celebrate eh nandoon pa rin siya sa selda niya. Iyon lang po.”
[Translation: So why would she celebrate when she is still in her cell? That’s all.]
The Muntinlupa Regional Trial Court Branch 205 on Wednesday junked De Lima’s drug case with co-accused Jose Adrian Dera, De Lima’s nephew who supposedly helped solicit money from convicted criminals for her election campaign in 2016. The omnibus order stated that no link between the two was proven, and it cannot be concluded that they agreed to engage in the drug trade.
In a statement also on Wednesday, De Lima said that “to be acquitted even in just one case, in the time of Duterte, is a moral victory.”
The same court did not dismiss a separate drug case with co-accused Ronnie Dayan, her former driver and bodyguard, whom she believes had been turned against her. Dayan had claimed he also solicited money from suspected drug lord Kerwin Espinosa for De Lima’s senatorial bid.
De Lima also has another drug case pending with Muntinlupa RTC Branch 256, where the prosecution is still presenting evidence for her motion for bail.
The senator has been detained since 2017, following allegations that she allowed the proliferation of drugs while she was Justice Secretary in exchange for campaign funds for her senatorial bid in 2016.
A staunch critic of the Duterte administration, De Lima has repeatedly denied involvement in the illegal drug trade. She said she is a victim of political persecution, a claim repeatedly dismissed by Malacañang.
