MANILA — Congresswoman-elect Leila de Lima clarified that the recent decision from the Court of Appeals (CA) has not reversed her earlier acquittal from illegal drug trade charges.
According to the former senator, the appellate court just wanted the Muntinlupa City Regional Trial Court (RTC) decision to be fixed and is seeking some clarification on some issue.
“Nais ko ring linawin na hindi sinabi ng CA na reversed ang aking acquittal kundi pinapaayos lamang nito ang laman ng desisyon, na sa aming palagay, hindi na kinakailangan dahil maliwanag ang desisyon ng RTC,” de Lima said in a statement on Thursday night.
“Nabasa na namin ang decision ng Court of Appeals na ibalik sa Regional Trial Court ang isa sa mga kaso kung saan na-acquit na ako. Kataka-taka itong desisyon na ito na mistulang pinapaulit ng CA ang pagkasulat ng desisyon ng RTC dahil daw hindi ito masyadong malinaw,” she added.
Based on a CA decision released publicly on Thursday, the Muntinlupa court committed grave abuse of discretion as it supposedly failed to explain the specific facts as well as the laws on which de Lima’s acquittal was based.
According to the CA, it appeared that the acquittal was based solely on the recantation of former Bureau of Corrections chief Rafael Ragos, who earlier testified that de Lima was involved in the drug trade inside the New Bilibid Prison before recanting it.
“Naniniwala rin kami na lahat ng sagot sa mga tanong ng CA sa decision nila ay maaring makita sa records ng kaso. Baka kailangan lang namin iturong muli sa kanila sa aming Motion for Reconsideration ang mga specific na portions ng records kung saan makikita ang mga sagot sa kanilang mga katanungan,” the ML partylist representative said.
“Gayunpaman, iaapela namin ang decision ng CA hanggang Supreme Court kung kinakailangan. Samantala, hindi oa ito nangangahulugan na wala nang bisa ang aking acquittal. Final and unappealable ang aking acquittal dahil sa prinsipyo ng double jeopardy, habang appealable pa naman hanggang Supreme Court ang desisyon ng CA. Sa ngayon, mas matimbang pa rin ang pagpapawalang-sala sa akin ng RTC,” she added.
De Lima also stated that the CA decision has no effect on her return to the public service.
“Tingin namin: issue lang ito ng pagpapalinaw at pagpapaliwanag sa CA sa mga tanong na kanilang pinunto sa kanilang decision,” the former Justice Secretary said.
“Gayunpaman, hindi ito magiging hadlang sa pagbabalik ko sa serbisyo-publiko at ipagpapatuloy ko ang aking preparasyon sa pagsulong ng Hustisya at Reporma sa Kongreso,” she concluded./PN
