Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II said on Tuesday that State prosecutors are looking into the possibility of amending the drug trafficking charges filed against detained senator Leila de Lima.
“I heard that they will make an amendment. I don’t know if they will pursue it. It’s the call of the [National Prosecution Service]. It’s not up to us,” Aguirre said.
According to the Justice Secretary, the prosecutors are reviewing Solicitor General Jose Calida’s stand during the oral arguments on De Lima’s petition in the Supreme Court.
De Lima is charged for violating Section 5 in relation to Section 3(jj), Section 26(b) and Section 28.of Republic Act No. 9165, or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.
Section 5 prohibits the “sale, trading, administration, dispensation, delivery, distribution and transportation of dangerous drugs and/or controlled precursors and essential chemicals.”
Section 3 refers to the trading of illegal drugs, while Section 28 covers the criminal liability of public officials involved in the proliferation of narcotics.
Calida explained that De Lima should have been charged with violation of Section 26 of the law which punishes “any attempt or conspiracy” to import, sell, trade, administer, dispense, deliver, distribute and transport illegal drugs, and maintain a drug den, produce narcotics and cultivate sources of illicit substances.
Furthermore, Aguirre said that amending a complaint already filed in court is legal as the solicitor general himself said the Supreme Court did not see anything wrong with it.
DAILY NEWS ROUND UP FOR 10/18 /17