MANILA — The Philippine National Police (PNP) on Monday said the decision of the Department of Justice (DOJ) indicting businessman Peter Lim and others on drug charges justifies the police’s efforts to pin down drug lords.
“The indictment of Peter Lim is consistent with our own investigation of the illegal drug and people,” Albayalde said in a press briefing.
“This only goes to show that the government’s campaign against illegal drugs does not discriminate against the poor. Simply put one is rich or poor or whether one is an influential businessman or an ordinary person the law applies to all,” he added.
Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra earlier said that state prosecutors will ask the Makati City Regional Trial Court (RTC) to issue a hold departure order (HDO) against Lim, after a panel of prosecutors chaired by Senior Assistant State Prosecutor Juan Pedro Navera issued a resolution on Friday – which determined probable cause to charge him 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.
Also indicted before the Makati RTC are self-confessed drug lord Roland “Kerwin” Espinosa, Espinosa’s arrested associate Marcelo Adorco, and Ruel Malindagan.
State prosecutors last July 25 filed charges against Espinosa, Co, Adorco, and Malindagan and arrested alleged drug supplier, Lovely Impal, after the panel of prosecutors led by Navera found probable cause to indict them based on the complaint of the PNP-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (PNP-CIDG).
The charges filed include two counts of conspiracy to commit illegal drug trade, one count before the Manila RTC and another count before the Makati RTC.
The complaint filed by the PNP-CIDG was initially turned down on Dec. 20, 2017 by the DOJ under then Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II 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.
Lim pointed out in his petition that then Justice Secretary Aguirre was forced to create the second panel in March and ordered the resolution of the first panel “vacated” due to public outrage.
Regarding Lim’s pending appeal at the SC, Navera believes that the resolution of the second panel will be upheld by the SC.