Congresswoman-elect and former senator Leila de Lima expressed puzzlement over the Court of Appeals (CA) decision voiding a Muntinlupa Regional Trial Court ruling that acquitted her in a drug case in 2023. 

“Nabasa na namin ang decision ng Court of Appeals na ibalik sa Regional Trial Court  ang isa sa mga kaso kung saan na-acquit na ako. Kataka-taka itong desisyon na ito na mistulang pinapaulit ng CA ang pagkasulat ng desisyon ng RTC dahil daw hindi ito masyadong malinaw (We have read the decision of the Court of Appeals to remand one of the cases in which I was acquitted to the Regional Trial Court. This decision is strange as the CA seems to be repeating the wording of the RTC decision because it is not very clear),” De Lima said in a statement. 

The CA nullified the rulings of Judge Abraham Joseph Alcantara of the Muntinlupa Regional Trial Court Branch 204 dated May 12, 2023, which acquitted De Lima and her co-accused Ronnie Dayan, and July 6, 2023, which denied the prosecution's motion for reconsideration in case 17-165. 

De Lima and Dayan were initially charged with conspiracy to commit illegal drug trading, one of the three cases filed in 2017 during the Duterte administration. All three cases were dismissed, including the one voided by the CA. 

In its ruling, the CA said Judge Alcantara “failed to discuss the specific proven facts as well as the laws upon which his pronouncement of acquittal was based.”

The CA said Alcantara had relied on the testimony of Rafael Ragos -- former National Bureau of Investigation deputy director and former Bureau of Corrections officer-in-charge -- who later retracted his statements against De Lima and Dayan. 

However, the CA ruled that the judge failed to “state the particular statements which witness Ragos specifically retracted” and “state in particular the effects of the retracted statements to the facts proven by the prosecution.” 

Following the decision, the CA remanded the case back to the Muntinlupa RTC Branch 204 “for it to decide the case in accordance with the rules stated in this Decision.”

“Naniniwala rin kami na lahat ng sagot sa mga tanong ng CA sa decision nila ay maaring makita sa records ng kaso. Baka kailangan lang namin iturong muli sa kanila sa aming Motion for Reconsideration ang mga specific na portions ng records kung saan makikita ang mga sagot sa kanilang mga katanungan (We also believe that all the answers to the CA's questions in their decision can be found in the case records. Perhaps we just need to refer them in our Motion for Reconsideration to the specific portions of the records where the answers to their questions can be found),” said De Lima. 

She added, “Gayunpaman, iaapela namin ang decision ng CA hanggang Supreme Court kung kinakailangan. Samantala, hindi pa ito nangangahulugan na wala nang bisa ang aking acquittal. Final and unappealable ang aking acquittal dahil sa prinsipyo ng double jeopardy, habang appealable pa naman hanggang Supreme Court ang desisyon ng CA. Sa ngayon, mas matimbang pa rin ang pagpapawalang-sala sa akin ng RTC. (However, we will appeal the CA's decision all the way to the Supreme Court if necessary. In the meantime, this does not mean that my acquittal is no longer valid. My acquittal is final and unappealable due to the principle of double jeopardy, while the CA's decision is still appealable all the way to the Supreme Court. For now, the RTC's acquittal still weighs more heavily).” 

De Lima said the CA did not reverse her acquittal but only ordered to correct the content of the decision. 

“Nais ko ring linawin na hindi sinabi ng CA na reversed ang aking acquittal kundi pinapaayos lamang nito ang laman ng desisyon, na sa aming palagay, hindi na kinakailangan dahil maliwanag ang desisyon ng RTC. Tingin namin: issue lang ito ng pagpapalinaw at pagpapaliwanag sa CA sa mga tanong na kanilang pinunto sa kanilang decision (I also want to clarify that the CA did not say that my acquittal was reversed but that it was only correcting the content of the decision, which in our opinion is no longer necessary because the RTC's decision is clear. We believe: this is just an issue of clarification and explanation to the CA on the questions they raised in their decision),” she said. 

De Lima said, “Gayunpaman, hindi ito magiging hadlang sa pagbabalik ko sa serbisyo-publiko at ipagpapatuloy ko ang aking preparasyon sa pagsulong ng Hustisya at Reporma sa Kongreso. (However, this will not be an obstacle to my return to public service and I will continue my preparation to advance Justice and Reform in Congress).” 

She won a seat in the House of Representatives as the first nominee of Mamamayang Liberal (ML) party-list.