DOJ asks Makati court to issue HDO vs. Peter Lim

At present, businessman and alleged drug lord Peter Lim is at large and the court has yet to issue a warrant of arrest against him. (PCOO file photo)

MANILA — The Department of Justice (DOJ) on Monday filed a motion before the Makati City Regional Trial Court (RTC) seeking to issue a hold departure order (HDO) against businessman and alleged drug lord Peter Lim.

In an urgent motion, the panel of prosecutors chaired by Senior Assistant State Prosecutor (SASP) Juan Pedro Navera with members Anna Noreen Devanadera and Associate Prosecution Attorney Herbert Calvin Abugan asked Makati RTC Branch 65 to direct the Bureau of Immigration (BI) to prevent Lim from leaving the country the departure of Lim.

The prosecutors said Lim has a history of travelling on different countries.

“Thus in order not to frustrate the ends of justice, as when accused Lim flees to mother country in order to escape Philippine criminal jurisdiction, it is imperative that a hold departure order (HDO) be issued,” read the motion.

The prosecutors said an HDO should be filed so as not to defeat the purpose of the court proceedings.

At present, Lim is at large and the court has yet to issue a warrant of arrest against him.

Earlier, Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said the BI has received information that Lim has returned to the country after a trip abroad.

“Per BI records, he left for a short trip abroad last March but returned after a few days. So Peter Go Lim is supposed to be in the country,” Guevarra said in text message sent to reporters on Saturday.

Lim, along with self-confessed drug lord Rolan “Kerwin” Espinosa, Epinosa’s arrested associate Marcelo Adorco, and Ruel Malindangan are facing charges for violating Section 5 Article 2 of the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002 or the illegal drug trade.

Espinosa, Adorco, and Malindangan are also facing two counts of conspiracy to commit illegal drug trade beofre the Manila RTC and Makati RTC along with convicted drug lord Peter Co and alleged drug supplier Lovely Impal.

Navera’s panel is the second panel of prosecutors issued a resolution on Friday which declared that probable cause has been found to charge Lim and three others with two counts of conspiracy to commit illegal drug trade in violation of Section 26(b) in relation to Section 5, Article II of Republic Act 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002 on the complaint filed by PNP-CIDG.

The indictment of Lim, who underwent a separate probe at his request, came following the similar indictment of Espinosa, convicted drug lord Peter Co, Adorco, Malindangan, and Impal before a Makati court.

State prosecutors also found Lim’s defense of not having the alias “Jaguar” as “immaterial”, as both Espinosa and Adorco identified him in all of their illegal drug transactions.

“Furthermore, his alibi that he could not have possibly been in Thailand during the time attested by Adorco has to yield to the positive and affirmative statements of said witness,” the DOJ statement read.

The panel reiterated that conspiracy to commit illegal drug trading is a distinct offense under the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002 and that the agreement to trade in drugs is the essence of the offense.

“The drugs themselves as corpus delicti, or drug trading are not essential under Section 26 (b) of law,” it said.

The complaint filed by the PNP-CIDG was junked on Dec. 20, 2017 by the department, then led by secretary Vitaliano Aguirre, but was later reinstated.

On the other hand, Lim has previously filed a petition which is now pending before the Supreme Court (SC) asking that the second panel be stopped from conducting the preliminary investigation against him since the first panel has already issued the Dec. 20, 2017 resolution absolving him.

Regarding Lim’s pending appeal at the SC, Navera believes that the resolution of the second panel will be upheld by the SC.

“We are confident that we will be sustained. The Secretary of Justice (Aguirre) has the power to do so,” he said.

Navera explained that the charges involve drug transactions made in Makati City where Lim agreed to supply Espinosa with illegal drugs. Navera’s panel is the second panel to conduct the preliminary investigation of the complaint filed by PNP-CIDG against the four as well as convicted drug lord Peter Co.

“The positive identification of Adorco, the admission of Kerwin Espinosa as to their dealings with Peter Go Lm. Those are basis of our probable cause determination against all of them, not just Peter Go Lim,” Navera told reporters.

“We utilized the interlocking confessions of both in order to determine whether we have probable cause against Peter Go Lim,” he said.