Government lawyers are now studying the effects on the illegal drugs cases of detained former senator Leila M. De Lima and other cases pending trial in courts of the recent Supreme Court (SC) ruling which allowed provisional liberty to the former chief of staff of then Senate president Juan Ponce Enrile with the grant of her petition for a Writ of Habeas Corpus.
Solicitor General Menardo I. Guevarra on Friday, Jan. 20, said “the OSG (Office of the Solicitor General) will carefully study the ramifications of the court’s resolution.”
Last Jan. 17, the SC ordered the release of Enrile’s former chief of staff, lawyer Jessica Lucila “Gigi” G. Reyes, with a ruling that her provisional release is warranted as her continued detention “though in accordance with a court order of the Sandiganbayan, violates her right to speedy trial and infringes on her right to liberty.”
Reyes was charged with plunder together with Enrile in the alleged P172.8 million kickbacks from businesswoman Janet Lim Napoles in the disbursement of the former senator’s Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF). Enrile was allowed to post bail.
But the SC said the release of Reyes should not be construed as the determination of the merit of the actual case. Several conditions were imposed by the SC.
Last Thursday, Jan. 19, the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology released Reyes based on the SC’s resolution.
The Writ of Habeas Corpus “is a writ directed to a person detaining another, commanding the former to produce the body of the latter at a designated time and place.” It extends “to all cases of illegal and arbitrary detention by which any person is deprived of his liberty....”
Solicitor General Guevarra admitted that the SC ruling on Reyes may apply to De Lima.
He noted that the grant of the habeas corpus to Reyes will not affect the pending plunder cases before the Sandiganbayan.
“The Supreme Court has made it clear that its ruling on the petition of habeas corpus is not tantamount to acquittal of the accused (Reyes) nor a dismissal of any of her pending cases,” he said.
“It will only result in the temporary liberty of the accused, as if bail was granted without any amount fixed by the court,” he added.
De Lima has been detained since 2017 at the Custodial Center of the Philippine National Police (PNP) at its headquarters at Camp Crame, Quezon City.
She was charged with non-bailable violations of the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act before the Muntinlupa City Regional Trial Court (RTC) under Criminal Case Nos. 17-165 and 17-167 over her alleged involvement in the proliferation of the illegal drugs trading at the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) in Muntinlupa City.
De Lima’s cases are undergoing trial.
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