SC dismisses De Lima’s plea to recall arrest warrant

FILE: Sen. Leila De Lima (Photo: Leila De Lima/ Facebook)

The Supreme Court (SC) on Tuesday junked the petition of detained Senator Leila De Lima to recall the arrest warrant issued against her.

Voting 9-6, the high court ruled to scrap the senator’s gesture to recall her arrest warrant issued by a Muntinlupa Court.

De Lima’s appeal to discharge the illegal drug charges against her was also rejected.

Earlier, De Lima’s media officer Ferdie Maglalang said the senator’s lawyers filed the plea to dismiss the warrant before Judge Juanita Guerrero of Muntinlupa Regional Court Branch 204.

The six justices who opposed the ruling are Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno, Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio, and Associate Justices Estela Perlas- Bernabe, Alfredo Benjamin Caguioa, and Francis Jardeleza.

The senator is facing three criminal charges for allegedly receiving kickbacks from New Bilibid Prison drug lords during her term as the justice secretary.

The department also indicted De Lima for allegedly using bribes from the illegal drug trade to fund her senatorial run in 2016.

The senator, a staunch critic of President Rodrigo Duterte, was charged with three counts of violation of Section No. 5 of the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002 in relation to trafficking and criminal liability of government officials.

De Lima is currently detained at the Philippine National Police Custodial Center inside Camp Crame in Quezon City.