2 witnesses in De Lima case to recant allegations

Two witnesses in the case of detained former senator Leila de Lima on Monday expressed desire to recant their allegations against her.

Lawyer Dino De Leon, De Lima’s legal counsel and spokesperson, said the prosecution was initially supposed to present Rodolfo Magleo as a witness but the latter approached De Lima with a letter before the hearing started.

“Bago magsimula ‘yung trial ay inabot niya ang isang sulat kay Senator Leila de Lima. Inabot niya lang, kay senator mismo,” De Leon said in an interview following the hearing of De Lima’s remaining drug case at the Muntinlupa Regional Trial Court Branch 206.

(Before the trial started, he gave senator Leila de Lima the letter. He just handed it to the senator.)

According to the letter shared with the media, Magleo said that he, together with fellow witness Nonilo Arile, was informing De Lima that they were recanting their testimonies.

“We are recanting our testimonies for several reasons with the primordial objective to help you both to be set free, together with your fellow accused in your last case,” the letter read.

“We both planned to recant as early as 2018, but due to impossibility of communication, we were not able to do so. We are bothered by our consciences. We do not want you to be victims of mistrial,” it added.

They added that five more witnesses, whom they have convinced, will follow after their recantation.

Magleo also called on De Lima to send her lawyers to the Sablayan Prison and Penal Farm in Occidental Mindoro for them to discuss the legal aspects of their recantation.

The letter, addressed to De Lima and former Corrections director Franklin Bucayu, was signed by both Magleo and Arile.

When asked if the recantation is official, De Leon said that though there is a process, the letter has been turned over to the court.

“Well, of course, meron itong proseso ng proper recantation. Ilalagay sila sa hukuman. So meron itong ability naman ‘yung prosecution to cross. So may proseso ito. Pero ito ay nasa court record na po,” he said.

(There is a process for proper recantation. It will be presented before the court. The prosecution can cross-examine them. This is already part of the court records.)

“As to whether that is legally binding, pag-uusapan ‘yan kasi may proseso tayo (it will still be discussed because there is a process for that),” he added.

Magleo previously claimed before lawmakers that big-time drug lords in the New Bilibid Prison were giving commissions to De Lima during her term as Justice secretary.

Meanwhile, De Leon said Arile accused De Lima of involvement in the drug trade to supposedly fund her campaign.

When sought for comment, however, Prosecutor Darwin Cañete said there is “technically no recantation” as Magleo was no longer presented as a witness.

However, Cañete said he cannot speculate on the possible effect of the letter.

“Nasa court kasi ultimately 'yung appreciation (The appreciation depends ultimately on the court), so I cannot speculate,” Cañete said in a message to GMA News Online.

De Lima shocked

Meanwhile, Atty. Boni Tacardon said De Lima initially did not know what to do with the letter.

“Kasi nagulat kami. Kami nagulat kami na merong ganyang sulat. Wala kaming kaalam-alam diyan… Si senator Leila mismo ang nakatanggap ng balita. At pinulong niya kami at hiningi niya ang aming opinyon kung anong gagawin sa sulat na 'yun,” he said.

(We were surprised. We were surprised that there was such a letter. We didn’t know anything about it. Senator Leila was the one who received the news and she gathered us and asked us for our opinion on what to do.)

He said the prosecution also seemed surprised.

“Mukhang nagulat sila. Hindi na nila prinisenta si Magleo (They also seemed surprised. They no longer presented Magleo),” he said.

De Lima has been detained in Camp Crame since February 2017 over drug allegations. She has repeatedly denied the allegations against her.

Her first acquittal came in February 2021 when the Muntinlupa City RTC Branch 205 junked one of her three cases.

On May 12, the Muntinlupa RTC Branch 204 acquitted De Lima and Ronnie Dayan, her co-accused and former bodyguard, of an illegal drug trading charge on the ground of reasonable doubt.—AOL, GMA Integrated News