A Muntinlupa court has granted the government prosecutors’ request to reopen the trial for one of the two remaining drug cases of former senator Leila de Lima that has been set for decision on May 12.
In an order dated April 24, the Muntinlupa Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 204 reopened the trial for case 17-165 and set the hearing for rebuttal evidence of the prosecution for one day on on April 28 but said that the promulgation of the decision will still be held on May 12.
Former senator Leila de Lima leaves the Muntinlupa Hall of Justice after attending a hearing in October 2022 (Ali Vicoy)
Former Bureau of Corrections officer-in-charge Rafael Ragos at the Muntinlupa Hall of Justice in October 2022 (Ali Vicoy)
“While the Court will allow the presentation of rebuttal evidence, the promulgation set on May 12, 2023 shall be strictly maintained so as not to cause any delay in this case,” Presiding Judge Abraham Joseph Alcantara ordered.
Under the Duterte administration, the Department of Justice (DOJ) filed three drug cases against De Lima in February 2017. One of the three cases was dismissed by a Muntinlupa court in February 2021.
Under case 17-165, De Lima and Ronnie Dayan are accused of conspiracy to commit illegal drug trading allegedly done during her time as justice secretary.
The case alleged that De Lima received P10 million in 2012 from former Bureau of Corrections officer-in-charge Rafael Ragos, which supposedly came from the illegal drug trade at the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) in Muntinlupa.
But Ragos recanted all his allegations against De Lima and Dayan in an affidavit he issued in April last year. He also testified in court to affirm his recantation, saying De Lima and Dayan were innocent of the charges.
Prosecutors filed a motion with the court, seeking to reopen the case in order to present their rebuttal evidence and new witness, lawyer Demiteer Huerta of the Public Attorney's Office.
“The prosecution alludes that while the presentation of rebuttal evidence is discretionary with the prosecution in criminal action, in the instant case, the overwhelming import of the new facts disclosed by the defense which have a damaging effect on the prosecution's version is imperative and necessary for the prosecution to present evidence,” the court said in the order.
De Lima’s camp opposed the reopening of the trial, saying “that by submitting the case for decision, the Panel of Prosecutors' agreement constitutes a waiver of their opportunity to further present rebuttal evidence. The move to re-open the case fails to present any manifest injustice sought to be avoided,” the court noted.
In the order, the court said that “there is no precise provision in the Rules of Court governing a motion to re-open a case for the reception of rebuttal evidence after a case has been submitted for decision but before judgment.”
“It is a judicial action which is controlled only by the utmost interest of justice and rests entirely on the sound discretion of the Court. The Court does not shrink from its responsibility to receive evidence in Order to ferret out the truth,” it said.
The court ordered that “the prosecution shall strictly adhere to its undertaking that its rebuttal witness shall be fully presented in one (1) day. No motion for continuance shall be allowed; and (2.) Orally offer its evidence in rebuttal after the presentation of its witness.”
De Lima has been in detention for more than six years.