ADVERTISEMENT
Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider Delay in resolution of De Lima's cases violates her right – CHR

Delay in resolution of De Lima's cases violates her right – CHR

Published Aug 12, 2022 03:40 pm

Commission on Human Rights (CHR)

Any further delay in the resolution of the criminal charges filed against former Senator and ex-Justice Secretary Leila M. De Lima violates her right, the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) said on Friday, Aug. 12.

In a statement, CHR Executive Director Jacqueline Ann de Guia said that De Lima has been detained for more than half a decade already, and any further delay to a fair trial directly violates her right as a person deprived of liberty (PDL).

De Guia cited the resolution of the Office of the Ombudsman (OMB), which dismissed the direct and indirect bribery complaints against former De Lima and her former bodyguard, Ronnie Dayan, due to "inconsistencies" in the testimonies of self-confessed drug lord Rolan "Kerwin" Espinosa and government witness Marcelo L. Adorco.

"The CHR welcomes the Ombudsman resolution and commends the office for upholding an expedient inquisition," she said. "CHR echoes their assertion that the innocent must be secured from oppressive prosecution as well as anxieties of public trial, especially when evidence is uncorroborated," she added.

De Lima has been detained at the Custodial Center of the Philippine National Police (PNP) headquarters in Camp Crame, Quezon City since 2017.

She is facing drug charges under Criminal Case Nos. 17-165 and 17-167 before the Muntinlupa City regional trial court (RTC).

The Department of Justice (DOJ) had assured that its 2017 resolution on the filing of illegal drug charges against De Lima is not in conflict with the recent ruling of the Office of the Ombudsman (OMB) which dismissed the direct and indirect bribery complaints against her.

“The Department would like to reiterate and point out that we are consistent with the recent resolution of the Ombudsman,” the DOJ said in a statement.

“In the DOJ Resolution, the Panel did not consider the testimony of Kerwin Espinosa as there was no corroborating evidence to support his allegation that he delivered P8 million to the former Senator for future protection,” the DOJ said.

“Therefore, it was clear to the DOJ Panel of Prosecutors that Espinosa’s confession on the allegation of payment for protection was not convincing,” it said.

It pointed out that “these cases (dismissed by OMB) pertain to the bribery charges against former Senator de Lima. Before the Muntinlupa courts are the drug trade charges which have completely different elements to be proven than that of bribery,” it added.

DOJ Spokesperson Jose Dominic Clavano reminded that the trial of the drug charges is ongoing. ”We have already presented our evidence,” he said. “It is former Senator De Lima’s turn to present hers,” he added.

ADVERTISEMENT
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1561_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1562_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1563_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}

{{ articles_filter_1564_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.mb-article-details { position: relative; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview, .mb-article-details .article-body-summary{ font-size: 17px; line-height: 30px; font-family: "Libre Caslon Text", serif; color: #000; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview iframe , .mb-article-details .article-body-summary iframe{ width: 100%; margin: auto; } .read-more-background { background: linear-gradient(180deg, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0) 13.75%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0.8) 30.79%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000) 72.5%); position: absolute; height: 200px; width: 100%; bottom: 0; display: flex; justify-content: center; align-items: center; padding: 0; } .read-more-background a{ color: #000; } .read-more-btn { padding: 17px 45px; font-family: Inter; font-weight: 700; font-size: 18px; line-height: 16px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; border: 1px solid black; background-color: white; } .hidden { display: none; }
function initializeAllSwipers() { // Get all hidden inputs with cms_article_id document.querySelectorAll('[id^="cms_article_id_"]').forEach(function (input) { const cmsArticleId = input.value; const articleSelector = '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .body_images'; const swiperElement = document.querySelector(articleSelector); if (swiperElement && !swiperElement.classList.contains('swiper-initialized')) { new Swiper(articleSelector, { loop: true, pagination: false, navigation: { nextEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-next', prevEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-prev', }, }); } }); } setTimeout(initializeAllSwipers, 3000); const intersectionObserver = new IntersectionObserver( (entries) => { entries.forEach((entry) => { if (entry.isIntersecting) { const newUrl = entry.target.getAttribute("data-url"); if (newUrl) { history.pushState(null, null, newUrl); let article = entry.target; // Extract metadata const author = article.querySelector('.author-section').textContent.replace('By', '').trim(); const section = article.querySelector('.section-info ').textContent.replace(' ', ' '); const title = article.querySelector('.article-title h1').textContent; // Parse URL for Chartbeat path format const parsedUrl = new URL(newUrl, window.location.origin); const cleanUrl = parsedUrl.host + parsedUrl.pathname; // Update Chartbeat configuration if (typeof window._sf_async_config !== 'undefined') { window._sf_async_config.path = cleanUrl; window._sf_async_config.sections = section; window._sf_async_config.authors = author; } // Track virtual page view with Chartbeat if (typeof pSUPERFLY !== 'undefined' && typeof pSUPERFLY.virtualPage === 'function') { try { pSUPERFLY.virtualPage({ path: cleanUrl, title: title, sections: section, authors: author }); } catch (error) { console.error('ping error', error); } } // Optional: Update document title if (title && title !== document.title) { document.title = title; } } } }); }, { threshold: 0.1 } ); function showArticleBody(button) { const article = button.closest("article"); const summary = article.querySelector(".article-body-summary"); const body = article.querySelector(".article-body-preview"); const readMoreSection = article.querySelector(".read-more-background"); // Hide summary and read-more section summary.style.display = "none"; readMoreSection.style.display = "none"; // Show the full article body body.classList.remove("hidden"); } document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", () => { let loadCount = 0; // Track how many times articles are loaded const offset = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]; // Offset values const currentUrl = window.location.pathname.substring(1); let isLoading = false; // Prevent multiple calls if (!currentUrl) { console.log("Current URL is invalid."); return; } const sentinel = document.getElementById("load-more-sentinel"); if (!sentinel) { console.log("Sentinel element not found."); return; } function isSentinelVisible() { const rect = sentinel.getBoundingClientRect(); return ( rect.top < window.innerHeight && rect.bottom >= 0 ); } function onScroll() { if (isLoading) return; if (isSentinelVisible()) { if (loadCount >= offset.length) { console.log("Maximum load attempts reached."); window.removeEventListener("scroll", onScroll); return; } isLoading = true; const currentOffset = offset[loadCount]; window.loadMoreItems().then(() => { let article = document.querySelector('#widget_1690 > div:nth-last-of-type(2) article'); intersectionObserver.observe(article) loadCount++; }).catch(error => { console.error("Error loading more items:", error); }).finally(() => { isLoading = false; }); } } window.addEventListener("scroll", onScroll); });
Join Our Newsletters

Sign up by email to receive news.

© 2025 Manila Bulletin The Nation's Leading Newspaper. All Rights Reserved.