The Department of Justice (DOJ) is withdrawing its bid to reverse the acquittal of Mamamayang Liberal party-list Representative Leila de Lima in one of her long-standing drug cases.
Prosecutor General Richard Anthony Fadullon confirmed on Wednesday that he and Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla had agreed to withdraw the motion for reconsideration (MR) filed by state prosecutors before the Muntinlupa City Regional Trial Court Branch 204.
“We did talk and agree to withdraw the MR filed by the trial prosecutors on the grounds of double jeopardy,” Fadullon said.
The withdrawal comes after Remulla publicly criticized the prosecutors’ move, calling it misguided and politically motivated.
“I actually talked to the Prosecutor General this morning and told him to stop the foolishness of these people under us because they are following a political agenda, not a legal agenda, so we will take over the case,” Remulla said in a video clip shared on the Facebook page Insurers for Good Governance.
The contested MR had been filed by a panel of prosecutors led by Provincial Prosecutor Ramoncito Bienvenido Ocampo. They argued that former Bureau of Corrections chief Rafael Ragos’ recantation of his testimony against De Lima did not invalidate his original statement.
The motion stemmed from a Court of Appeals order remanding the case to the trial court, which eventually reaffirmed De Lima’s acquittal.
Fadullon clarified he only found out about the filing after it was submitted. “I learned about it through my staff whom they informed, after the panel of prosecutors had already filed it because apparently it was already the deadline for the filing,” he said.
De Lima, who spent nearly seven years in detention before being acquitted, expressed gratitude to Remulla for “bringing sense and order to the unethical actuations” of the DOJ panel.
Still, she called for accountability.
“Halos pitong taon akong ipinakulong sa tulong na rin at kooperasyon ng mga prosecutor na ito na tila ba walang konsensya sa pagyurak nila hindi lamang sa akin kundi sa ating sistemang legal. Ganun na lang ba yun?” De Lima said.
“If they are allowed to get away scot-free with what they have done, no one is safe. They should be made to account for what they have done,” she added.
