CA nullifies De Lima acquittal

The Court of Appeals (CA) has declared null and void the acquittal of former senator Leila de Lima in one of the three dismissed drug charges against her, ruling that the Muntinlupa trial court judge in the case failed to substantiate the basis for the acquittal.

- By DAPHNE GALVEZ

In a 12-page ruling, the CA's 8th Division said Muntinlupa Regional Trial Court Branch 204 Judge Abraham Joseph Alcantara committed grave abuse of discretion when he cleared De Lima and her co-accused Ronnie Dayan in 2023 of charges of conspiring and conducting illegal drug trade in the New Bilibid Prison (NBP).

Alcantara had cited the recantation of one of the witnesses against De Lima, former Bureau of Corrections chief Rafael Ragos, saying that without his testimony, "the crucial link to establish conspiracy is shrouded with reasonable doubt."

Ragos previously testified that he personally delivered a total of P10 million to then justice secretary De Lima at her residence. The money was supposedly proceeds from illegal drug trading by convicts at the New Bilibid Prison.

In 2022, however, Ragos recanted his testimony, saying that then justice secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II had coerced him to implicate De Lima in the illegal drug trade.

The CA ruling stemmed from a petition for certiorari filed by the Office of the Solicitor General, which argued that Alcantara failed to substantiate his perception of the alleged insufficiency of the prosecution's evidence to convict De Lima. The OSG said the judge did not analyze the entire evidence on record and did not cite the legal bases for his conclusion, instead relying solely on Ragos' recantation.