CA nullifies De Lima acquittal, remands case to RTC

By Benjamin Pulta, Philippine News Agency

On May 12, 2023, the Muntinlupa court said the retraction of former Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) chief Rafael Ragos cast reasonable doubt on de Lima’s involvement in the illegal drug trade inside the New Bilibid Prison. (File Photo: House of Representatives of the Philippines/Facebook)

MANILA – The Court of Appeals (CA) has nullified the decision of a Muntinlupa regional trial court to acquit Congresswoman-elect Leila de Lima on one of the three drug charges against her.

In a 12-page decision dated April 30, the CA’s Eighth Division granted the petition filed by the Office of the Solicitor General and remanded the case to Muntinlupa RTC Branch 204 “for it to decide the case in accordance with the rules.”

On May 12, 2023, the Muntinlupa court said the retraction of former Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) chief Rafael Ragos cast reasonable doubt on de Lima’s involvement in the illegal drug trade inside the New Bilibid Prison.

“(I)n order for a judgment or decision in a criminal case to have a legal and binding effect, it must conform to the standards of clarity, transparency, and reasonableness as mandated both by the Constitution and the Rules of Court. However, in this case, we find that both the assailed Decision and Order failed to meet these required standards,” the CA said.

It said the Muntinlupa court “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.”

The CA added that “an acquittal rendered through a judgment marred by grave abuse of discretion cannot be considered an acquittal entitled to the protection against double jeopardy.”

De Lima and her co-accused Ronnie Dayan were charged with allegedly allowing the trafficking of drugs in the New Bilibid Prison in exchange for PHP10 million delivered in two tranches in November and December of 2012 when she was still justice secretary.

The case was originally assigned to RTC Branch 205 but was re-raffled to RTC Branch 204 after a judge recused himself from taking part in the case.

In a statement, de Lima maintained that the answer to all the issues raised by the CA in its decision can be found in the case records.

“Gayunpaman, iaapela namin ang decision ng CA hanggang Supreme Court kung kinakailangan. 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 (Nevertheless, we will appeal the decision of the CA up to the Supreme Court. Maybe, we just needed to again show them (CA) the specific portions of the records where our answers to their questions can be found),” she said.

De Lima also clarified that the CA did not reverse her acquittal, but merely a ruling to clear up the content of the decision, which she believes is not needed because the RTC decision was already clear.

“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 (Still, this will not be a hindrance to my return in public service and I will continue my preparations in promoting justice and reforms in Congress,” she said.