Rafael Ragos, former officer-in-charge of the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor), testified in a Muntinlupa court on Oct. 28 to affirm his recantation of his original testimony against former senator Leila de Lima and Ronnie Dayan he accused of getting money that supposedly came from the illegal drug trade.
He attended the hearing at the Muntinlupa Regional Trial Court Branch 204 on case No. 17-165, which accused De Lima and Dayan of conspiracy to commit illegal drug trading that allegedly happened during her time as justice secretary.
Ragos originally executed affidavits and testified before Congress and in court that he delivered P10 million to De Lima’s house in Parañaque: P5 million on Nov. 24, 2012 and another P5 million on Dec. 15, 2012.
The money allegedly came from the proceeds of illegal drug trade at the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) in Muntinlupa.
“Nakapag-testify siya today. Nakapag-direct examination siya ... nailabas yung mga detalye ng mga pagkukulang sa pagkuha sa mga affidavits niya kung saan tinutukoy niya sina Senator De Lima at saka si Ronnie Dayan (He testified today. He was able to undergo direct examination . . . the details were released on the lapses when his affidavits were taken in which he referred to Senator De Lima and Ronnie Dayan),” said Michael Castro, Ragos’ legal counsel.
Ragos executed an affidavit dated April 30 this year and recanted all his allegations against De Lima and Dayan.
“All of my allegations to the contrary in my affidavits and House and court testimonies are all fiction, false, and fabricated,” he said in his affidavit.
According to Ragos, “In an affidavit dated March, 2017, I stated that the money I delivered to Ronnie Dayan and Sec. De Lima on November 24, 2012 and December 2012 both amounted to five million pesos (P5,000,000.00) each and that the person who called me on the phone was Bilibid inmate Hans Tan who said that the money came from Peter Co and was Sec. De Lima's share in the drug trade.”
“I now hereby declare and make known to the whole world that there is no truth whatsoever to any of these affidavits or House and court testimonies, or any other statement made in the media or other investigatory proceedings, including the Senate and the DOJ, on the delivery of monies to Sec. De Lima or Ronnie Dayan in whatever amount,” said Ragos.
He said, “There was never any money delivered to my quarters. Even if there was, I would have immediately conducted an investigation and filed a case against the responsible individuals, instead of following the instructions of an unknown caller or Hans Tan to deliver a package like an ordinary messenger.”
“As far as I know and based on my professional relationship with Sec. De Lima, she is incapable of doing anything illegal, much less engage in the illegal drug trade or accept money from Bilibid inmates,” said Ragos.
According to him, “I was forced to execute the above affidavits and deliver the above House and court testimonies against Sec. De Lima andRonnie Dayan due to threats of being detained myself for the crime of engaging in the illegal drug trade that I did not commit.”
Castro said Ragos executed the affidavits without a lawyer and feared for his life.
“Si Raffy matanda na siya, paretire na, natatakot siya hindi lamang para sa sarili niya pero para sa pamilya niya (Raffy is old, about to retire, he feared not only for himself but for his family),” he said.
Ragos was originally charged by the Department of Justice (DOJ) as a co-accused in the case along with De Lima and Dayan. He was later dropped from the case and became a prosecution witness.
“He stands to lose more than he can gain sa kaso na ito (He stands to lose more than he can gain in this case),” said Castro.
Boni Tacardon, De Lima’s legal counsel, said Ragos’ recantation is very important in De Lima’s defense.
“Para sa aming defense panel, importanteng-importante na na-identify niya yung kanyang affidavit of recantation at natanong naman siya kung iyan ay totoo at kinconfirm niya na lahat ng sinabi niya ay totoo (For us in the defense panel, it is very important that he identified his affidavit of recantation and he was asked if that is true and he confirmed that all what he said is true),” said Tacardon.
He said, “Para sa amin, yung pag-upo niya ngayon at pagtestigo ay malaking bagay para sa depensa ni Senator Leila de Lima (For us, when he sat in the witness stand and testified is a big thing for the defense of Senator Leila de Lima).”
The DOJ originally filed three cases against De Lima for illegal drug trading in February 2017 but it later changed these to conspiracy to commit illegal drug trading. One of the cases was dismissed by a Muntinlupa court last year.