Leila de Lima bail request denied by Muntinlupa court

A Muntinlupa court has denied former senator Leila De Lima's bail petition.

“Sad to inform you that the Court denied Sen. Leila’s Bail application,” her lawyer Filibon Tacardon said in a message to reporters.

In an order issued on Wednesday, Muntinlupa Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 256 Presiding Judge Romeo Buenaventura denied De Lima's bail request for criminal case no. 67, the third and remaining case against the former justice secretary.

The Court said it did not find De Lima’s grounds for bail compelling and that her plea for provisional liberty on humanitarian considerations is “untenable.”

De Lima had pleaded for temporary freedom on the grounds that she is now a senior citizen and has several health issues which have necessitated several medical furloughs.

However, the court said that De Lima is "not suffering from any serious or life-threatening health condition."

“This negates the need for her to be placed in a special or alternative facility outside of her current confinement,” it added.

The court also said it viewed the time when De Lima was briefly held hostage in October 2022 as an isolated incident.

Meanwhile, the court said it is convinced that the prosecution proved prima facie the alleged agreement and decision among the accused to commit illegal drug trading.

It also said that any "minor and insignificant" inconsistencies in the prosecution witnesses' testimony do not weaken their position.

“It is well-settled that minor and insignificant inconsistencies tend to bolster, rather than weaken, the credibility of witnesses for they show that his testimony was not contrived or rehearsed,” the court said.

“Trivial inconsistencies do not rock the pedestal upon which the credibility of the witness rests, but enhances the credibility as they manifest spontaneity and lack of scheming,” it added.

Despite this, the court said it is not prejudging the final outcome of the case.

“All the foregoing, notwithstanding, let it be stressed that in finding the evidence of guilty strong, the Court does not in any way prejudge what the final outcome of the case will be,” it said.

“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,” it added.

The next hearings are set for June 19 and June 26.

Motion for reconsideration

Tacardon said De Lima's defense team would file a motion for reconsideration.

He said the decision to deny the former senator bail was unexpected.

"Umaasa tayo na sa ating MR, makikita ng Korte ang posisyon namin na hindi kailanman magiging katanggap-tanggap o maaaring pagkatiwalaan ang testimonya ng mga convicted criminals, lalo pa kung may galit sila sa akusado na kanilang pinararatangan," Tacardon said.

(We are hoping that with the MR, the court will see our position that the testimony of convicted criminals will never be acceptable or trustworthy especially if they have a grudge against the accused against whom they are testifying.)

Tacardon pointed out that two of De Lima's three drug charges have already been dismissed.

He said the De Lima's fight for justice and freedom will continue as she had been separated from her loved ones for over six years now.

'Saddened'

The senator’s youngest brother, Vicente de Lima II, said he and their family were disheartened by the news.

“Yes, siyempre. Pinagdadasal po namin na sana mabigyan na ng favorable decision regarding the petition for bail, similar to what happened in first case and the second case,” Vicente said in a phone call to reporters.

(Yes, of course. We were praying for a favorable decision regarding the petition for bail, similar to what happened in the first case and the second case.)

“This is the decision of the Court. We are saddened. We are hoping to see our sister free very soon, but this development is not very good with that aspiration,” he added.

Vicente said that "justice delayed is justice denied."

"Our sister continues to be denied justice, continued to be denied her freedom. So we hope and pray that she will be free very, very soon," he said.

De Lima, a staunch critic of the Duterte administration, has been detained at Camp Crame since 2017 over allegations of involvement in the drug trade in the New Bilibid Prison. She has repeatedly denied the charges.

In February 2021, Muntinlupa City RTC Branch 205 junked one of the three drug cases against De Lima, who has repeatedly denied the charges filed by the Duterte administration.

Muntinlupa RTC Branch 204 acquitted her second case in May.

Habeas corpus

Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla said De Lima’s camp should have filed a petition for habeas corpus or grounded their arguments on humanitarian reasons.

“That could’ve, should’ve been the reason. Kasi nga ang challenges diyan, sinabi ko na dati ‘yan, kung ang reason natin ay hindi, ay hindi merits ng case kundi humanitarian concern ang reasons, pwedeng hindi na lumaban ang gobyerno,” Remulla said in an ambush interview.

(That could’ve, should’ve been the reason. Because the challenge there, and I said this before, if their reason is humanitarian concern and not the merits of the case, the government could have let it go.)

Remulla said that De Lima had been detained for six years.

“Sana ‘yun na lang ang sinulat nila at nag intay muna kanyang mga abugado. Sinabi na namin na hindi na namin talaga papalagan kung ganon ang naging dahilan,” Remulla said.

(They should have pushed for that and her lawyers should have waited. We already said we would not fight back if they used that as the reason.)

“Pero mas gusto magpasikat ng ganun o kaya magparinig at magpahiwatig na tingin nila ay kayang-kaya nila ang kaso,” he added.

(But they wanted the spotlight or insinuate that they can take the case.) — BM, GMA Integrated News