Former senator Leila de Lima said she is disappointed that a [Muntinlupa court denied her request for bail](https://mb.com.ph/2023/6/7/muntinlupa-court-denies-de-lima-s-petition-for-bail), saying that the inmates’ testimonies against her were unreliable and lies.  De Lima issued a statement from her detention facility in Camp Crame on June 8, a day after the Presiding Judge Romeo Buenaventura of the Muntinlupa Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 256 denied her petition for bail in the last remaining drug case filed by the Department of Justice (DOJ) in February 2017.  Former senator Leila de Lima at the Muntinlupa Hall of Justice in May (Contributed photo)
The court also denied the petitions and motions for bail filed by her co-accused: Franklin Jesus Bucayu, Ronnie Dayan, Joenel Sanchez and Jose Adrian Dera in case 17-167.  De Lima said [her lawyers will file a motion for reconsideration](https://mb.com.ph/2023/6/7/de-lima-to-appeal-muntinlupa-court-s-decision-denying-her-petition-for-bail) with the court to reverse its decision on the petition for bail.  “The court's denial of my bail application is most unfortunate. My lawyers will be filing an MR to raise the issue on the credibility of the inmate witnesses and their testimonies anew, with the Hope that the judge is not yet closed to the perspective that their word, uncorroborated as they are by more acceptable evidence, is utterly unreliable and therefore completely not credible and unworthy of belief. Theirs are blatant lies and ludicrous stories,” she said.  She added, “I am of course disappointed. But with a clean conscience, I cannot and will not lose Hope.I have to remain strong as I’m determined to attain justice and vindication.” De Lima has been detained at the Philippine National Police Custodial Center in Camp Crame for more than six years since she surrendered to authorities on Feb. 24, 2017 after a Muntinlupa court issued a warrant of arrest against her.  Case 17-167 accused De Lima and others of conspiracy to commit illegal drug trading. 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.  Boni Tacardon, De Lima’s legal counsel, said they will file the motion for reconsideration next week.  In the decision, the court said, “Considering the foregoing and after a careful review of the totality of prosecution's evidence, the Court is convinced that the evidence of guilt against all the above-named accused for the crime of conspiracy to commit illegal drug trading is strong.” But the judge said “in finding the evidence of guilt strong, the Court does not in any way prejudge what the final outcome of the case will be. The culpability or innocence of the accused will still be decided on the basis of all the evidence presented by the parties and only after trial on the merits of the case.” He added, “To repeat, the purpose of the hearing is merely to determine the weight of evidence for purposes of bail. Thus, all that the present resolution has determined is that based on evidence thus far adduced by the prosecution, the Court is convinced that there is great probability that the crime charged has been committed and that the accused are the agents thereof. After all, that the evidence of guilt is strong does not equate to a finding of proof of guilt beyond reasonable doubt.” Two of the three drug cases filed by the DOJ under the Duterte administration were dismissed in 2021 and 2023 by Muntinlupa courts.