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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider No reason to suspend De Lima's proclamation as congresswoman— Comelec

No reason to suspend De Lima's proclamation as congresswoman— Comelec

Published May 16, 2025 12:36 pm  |  Updated May 16, 2025 02:11 pm

At A Glance

  • The proclamation of presumptive Mamamayang Liberal (ML) Party-list representative Leila de Lima will push through next week despite the Court of Appeal (CA)'s nullification of her acquittal by a local court in one of her drug cases.
The proclamation of presumptive Mamamayang Liberal (ML) Party-list representative Leila de Lima will push through next week despite the Court of Appeal (CA)'s nullification of her acquittal by a local court in one of her drug cases.
Comelec Chairman George Erwin Garcia said Friday, May 16, that the poll body "is seeing no reason" to suspend De Lima's or her party-list's proclamation because the CA's decision was not even a final conviction.
"Wala naman pong pending case sa amin yung mismong naturang partylist para kami mag issue ng (Her party-list does not have any pending case before Comelec, so there's no reason to issue an) order to suspend any proclamation," Garcia said in a press conference.
He also said that CA's decision can also be subject to a motion for reconsideration or be appealed at the Supreme Court (SC) .
"Wala pong epekto 'yan sa magiging proklamasyon natin doon sa kanilang party-list o personalidad (It doesn't have any effect on her proclamation or on her party-list)," Garcia said.
The proclamation of the party-list winners are expected to take place on Monday, May 19.
In a decision released on Thursday, May 15, CA's 8th division declared null and void Muntinlupa Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 204 Judge Abraham Joseph Alcantara's decision to acquit De Lima in her drug case.
CA said Alcantara “failed to conform to the standards of clarity, transparency, and reasonableness mandated by the Constitution and the Rules of Court” when he acquitted De Lima, and her co-accused Ronnie Dayan.
It said ​the judge's decision "was made with neither analysis of the entire evidence on record nor reference to the legal bases for his conclusion on the supposed resulting inefficiency of the rest of the prosecution’s evidence, in stark violation of the Constitution".
​In a statement, the presumptive congresswoman said CA's nullification of her initial acquittal did not mean a reversal.
De Lima said the appellate court "only wanted the writing of the decision to be fixed," which her camp believes there is no need to do so because the local court's decision is already clear.
"We think this is just an issue of the CA asking for an explanation and clarification in the decision, regarding the questions pointed out by the appellate court," she added.
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