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De Lima files complaint vs 10 prosecutors in dismissed drug cases in Muntinlupa
De Lima files complaint vs 10 prosecutors in dismissed drug cases in Muntinlupa
Rep. Leila de Lima, former senator and justice secretary, has filed a formal complaint against 10 government prosecutors behind the four cases filed against her during the Duterte administration.
In February 2017, the Department of Justice (DOJ) filed three drug cases against her before Muntinlupa courts. Another case, for disobedience to summons, was filed in Quezon City.
The DOJ originally filed illegal drug trading against De Lima in Muntinlupa but changed it to conspiracy to commit illegal drug trading.
All four cases were dismissed by courts and De Lima was detained at Camp Crame for nearly seven years.
She has asked Justice Sec. Jesus Crispin Remulla to investigate 10 prosecutors for grave misconduct and gross ignorance of the law.
De Lima filed the complaint before the DOJ on Aug. 14 through her lawyer, Dino de Leon.
In the complaint, De Lima asked the DOJ to “to exercise its disciplinary authority and initiate a formal administrative investigation against” the prosecutors.
They are Provincial Prosecutor Ramoncito Bienvenido Ocampo Jr., City Prosecutor Blas Antonio Tuliao, City Prosecutor Laurence Joel Taliping, Deputy City Prosecutor Leilia Llanes, Deputy City Prosecutor Evangeline Viudez-Canobas, Deputy City Prosecutor Darwin Canete, Senior Assistant City Prosecutor Rudy Ricamora Jr., Senior Assistant City Prosecutor John Quincy Carandang, Senior Assistant State Prosecutor Wendell Bendoval, and Senior Assistant City Prosecutor Alfred Joseph Jamora.
De Lima, a critic of then President Rodrigo Duterte, told Remulla about “the abuse and injustice I have personally endured over the past seven years at the hands of those sworn to uphold the law.”
“As then sitting Senator and later as a private citizen, I became the target of fabricated and politically motivated cases and have suffered through the shameless weaponization of the legal system,” she said.
She added, “Through my unwavering faith and steadfast resolve, and with the tireless efforts of my lawyers, I have been acquitted of all four charges filed against me. But the pursuit of justice ought not to end there. There must be a reckoning for those who abused their authority, manipulated the prosecutorial process, and orchestrated this flagrant perversion of the law.”
De Lim said the cases that were filed against her “were not built on evidence, but on coercion and lies, orchestrated within the Department of Justice itself during the time of President Rodrigo Duterte.”
“The sworn recantation of former Bureau of Corrections Officer-in-charge Rafael Ragos (‘Mr. Ragos’) exposes the conspiracy in damning detail,” she said. Ragos passed away on Aug. 12.
“This fabricated testimony the cornerstone of one of the three charges against me. Without it, there was no link. no crime, and no basis for my arrest and detention. The aforementioned prosecutors, however, willfully proceeded with this sham. They turned a blind eye to the glaring absence of material evidence and the dubious nature of their so-called star witness, even after Mr. Ragos himself admitted the story was pure fabrication. This constitutes Grave Misconduct,” she said.
De Lima also bewailed the decision of the prosecutors to file a second motion for reconsideration last July 14 after a Muntinlupa court acquitted her in case 17-165.
This, she said, was prohibited under the double jeopardy provision under the law.
“Their actions amount to Gross Ignorance of the Law. A judgment of acquittal is final and immediately executory. This is a fundamental principle that every lawyer should know, let alone a government prosecutor,” she said. The prosecutors later filed a motion to withdraw the motion for reconsideration.
“I humbly urge you to initiate the appropriate administrative proceedings to hold them accountable for their actions. I am fully prepared to cooperate in any action necessary to make that possible,” she said.