MANILA – The Supreme Court affirmed on Tuesday its earlier ruling that denied Sen. Leila de Lima’s motion to release her from jail and dismiss all the illegal drug charges against her.
In a decision penned by Associate Justice Presbitero Velasco Jr., the high court once again rejected de Lima’s plea to nullify the warrant of arrest issued against her by the Muntinlupa City Regional Trial Court.
De Lima, in her motion for reconsideration, said the Muntinlupa City RTC does not have jurisdiction over her case, which she said should have been filed at the Office of the Ombudsman.
On Oct. 10, 2017 the Supreme Court dismissed de Lima’s motion for lack of merit, ruling that the Department of Justice has the authority to file the charges before the Muntinlupa City RTC.
De Lima, former driver Ronnie Dayan and former Bureau of Corrections officer-in-charge Rafael Ragos were ordered arrested on Feb. 23, 2017. Muntinlupa City RTC Branch 204 Judge Juanita Guerrero issued their warrants.
Curiously, Guerrero inhibited herself from the case late last year after de Lima petitioned against her for that what the senator called her “unseemly and undue haste” in ensuring the latter’s detention and depriving her of liberty.
In June 2017 Muntinlupa City RTC Judge Amelia Fabros-Corpuz also ordered the arrest of de Lima and Jose Adrian Dera based on testimonies from New Bilibid Prison high-profile inmate Peter Co.
De Lima still has a case pending before Muntinlupa City RTC Branch 206 under Judge Patria Manalastas-De Leon where she is a co-respondent of former BuCor chief Franklin Bucayu.
De Lima was accused of tolerating and benefitting from the illegal drug trade inside the Bilibid when she was still DOJ secretary, allegedly receiving kickbacks from drug lords at the national penitentiary. She has repeatedly denied the allegations.
SC VOIDS DE LIMA’S WATCH-LIST ORDER VS ARROYO
Meanwhile the Supreme Court also declared “illegal” and “unconstitutional” the watch-list order de Lima issued when she was still Justice secretary against former president and now Pampanga representative Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
That order was released with grave abuse of discretion based on DOJ Circular No. 41 series of 2010, the high court said in a ruling penned by Associate Justice Andres Reyes Jr.
“The magistrates were of the view that the Right to Travel under the 1987 Constitution is a constitutionally guaranteed right under the Bill of Rights,” Supreme Court spokesman Theodore Te said.
Arroyo was prevented from boarding her flight at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport in 2011 when she tried to leave the country to seek treatment for her bone mineral disorder./PN
