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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider Metro Manila devider Muntinlupa court defers decision on De Lima's petition for bail 

Muntinlupa court defers decision on De Lima's petition for bail 

Published May 8, 2023 09:09 am
A Muntinlupa court has deferred the issuance of a ruling on former senator Leila de Lima’s petition for bail due to an issue in the marking of evidence by government prosecutors.  The Muntinlupa Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 256, which is handling case 17-167, was supposed to decide on May 8 on De Lima’s petition for bail. De Lima was present at the hearing.  Former senator Leila de Lima, escorted by the police, leaves the Muntinlupa Hall of Justice on May 8 after attending a hearing on one of her cases (Contributed photo)
It is one of the two remaining drug cases filed by the Department of Justice in 2017. Another case was dismissed by a Muntinlupa court in February 2021.  The two remaining cases accuse De Lima and others of conspiracy to commit illegal drug trading that allegedly happened during her time as justice secretary.  According to lawyer Boni Tacardon, De Lima’s legal counsel, the prosecution admitted they made a mistake in marking their evidence.  “Nakapag-agree kami na ayusin na lang 'yung marking ng mga dokumento (We agreed to fix the marking of the documents),” he said.  He added, “Dahil nga ito’y isang importante bago ma-resolve 'yung kanilang formal offer of evidence, hindi muna nakapaglabas ng ruling ang hukuman tungkol sa petition for bail (And because this is important before their formal offer of evidence is resolved, the court did not issue a ruling on the petition for bail).”  For case 17-167, De Lima filed a motion for bail ad cautelam in December 2020.  In a formal offer of evidence, all the documentary exhibits and object evidence are formally submitted by a party in a case to the court, explaining why they should be considered and admitted as evidence, Tacardon explained.  Under case 17-167, De Lima, former Bureau of Corrections director Franklin Jesus Bucayu, Wilfredo Elli, Jaybee Sebastian (now deceased), Ronnie Dayan, Joenel Sanchez and Jose Adrian Dera were charged for conspiracy to commit illegal drug trading in 2017.  The DOJ charged that between March 2013 to May 2015, the accused used inmates at the New Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa to sell and trade dangerous drugs using mobile phones and other electronic devices, and allegedly got the proceeds amounting to P70 million.  In another case of De Lima, 17-165, the Muntinlupa RTC Branch 204 will issue its decision on May 12. 

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