Detained former senator Leila M. De Lima on Wednesday, April 19, asked the Muntinlupa regional trial court (RTC) to deny the prosecution’s plea to re-open the proceedings in the illegal drugs case filed against her for the presentation of a lawyer from the Public Attorney’s Office (PAO) as a rebuttal witness.
“Simply put, these criminal proceedings cannot be held hostage by the lack of diligence of the Prosecution which had six years prosecuting the same,” De Lima said in the opposition filed with RTC Branch 204 by her lawyer Teddy Esteban F. Rigoroso.
De Lima, who is detained at the Custodial Center of the Philippine National Police (PNP) headquarters in Camp Crame in Quezon City, was charged with alleged involvement in the proliferation of the narcotics trade at the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) in Muntinlupa City.
In its motion, the Department of Justice (DOJ) prosecutors asked the RTC to re-open the case which has been submitted for resolution and allow the presentation of rebuttal witness, PAO lawyer Demiteer Huerta.
De Lima called the move as “the underhanded maneuvering of the Panel to inevitably delay the proceedings in this case.”
She said the court has already set the promulgation of the judgment of the case this May 12 after the prosecution and the defense lawyers both agreed before the RTC last April 17 to have the case submitted for resolution following the March 10 termination of the presentation of evidence of her co-accused former driver Ronnie Dayan.
De Lima pointed out: “The Panel’s agreement to submit the case for decision constitutes a waiver of their opportunity to further present rebuttal evidence. Trials must end at some point. They cannot be subjected to the whims and caprices of any party who, after agreeing to submit the case for decision, changes its mind and opts for a continuation of an already terminated trial. The Rules of Criminal Procedure simply cannot be supplanted with pleasure borne out of the lackadaisical attitude of a party.”
She stressed that the presentation of Huerta is “not newly discovered evidence” and the PAO lawyer was “already known to the Panel at the time they agreed to have the instant case submitted for resolution.”
Huerta was one of the PAO lawyers who took the testimony of former Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) officer-in-charge Rafael Ragos in testifying against De Lima.
The prosecution sought to present Huerta after Ragos recanted his testimony against De Lima.
De Lima also said in her opposition: “Moreover, there is no showing that the presentation of the additional evidence, including the testimony of Atty. Huerta, would add anything of value to the lengthy cross-examination of the Panel. The Panel already had their opportunity to debunk and address the testimony of witness Ragos. In fact, they had four full morning hearing dates to do so. The Panel also failed to even explain the substance of the testimony of Atty. Huerta and the additional matters that would be raised. This failure highlights the whimsical nature of the motion.”