CA nullifies De Lima drug case acquittal

Metro Manila, Philippines - A Court of Appeals (CA) division has nullified the acquittal of former Senator Leila de Lima and her aide in one of the drug cases over a recanted statement that led to the dismissal of charges.

In a decision dated April 30 and made public on Thursday, May 15, the CA eighth division remanded the case to the Muntinlupa Regional Trial Court Branch 204.

The court decision stemmed from a case review sought by the Office of the Solicitor General.

The CA noted that the acquittal was based “on the sole basis of the recantation” of former Bureau of Corrections officer-in-charge Rafael Ragos, who previously implicated De Lima and Ronnie Dayan in illegal drug trade at the New Bilibid Prison when she was justice secretary.

“However, the public respondent failed to discuss the specific proven facts as well as the laws upon which his pronouncement of acquittal was based. It is flagrant in the assailed decision and order that the public respondent failed to: state the particular statements which witness Ragos specifically retracted; state in particular the effects of the retracted statements to the facts proven by the prosecution; and state which particular element of the crime charged was not proven,” stated the ruling written by Associate Justice Eleuterio Bathan.

“Without a concrete reference to the particular portions of the testimony that were recanted, we are left to speculate as to which facts were disregarded and the extent to which such retractions influenced the outcome of the case,” it added.

In a message to reporters, De Lima said her lawyers have yet to receive a copy of the decision.

In a separate message, Dino de Leon, De Lima’s lawyer, said the former senator will appeal the decision, noting that the CA “committed a reversible error.”

“Per our understanding, the case was ordered to be remanded only for the court to render a decision in accordance with the guidelines set by the Court of Appeals. This decision of the CA is not yet final, and we have not officially received the decision,” he said.

De Lima was cleared in all three drug cases filed during the Duterte administration. She was released from detention in 2023 after nearly seven years.

The former senator is poised to assume a congressional seat as first nominee of the Mamamayang Liberal party-list, which has secured enough votes in the partial and unofficial results of the May 12 polls.