Matobato revealed in a 2016 Senate hearing that there was a planned ambush against De Lima when she was still the CHR chairperson. De Lima even presented self-confessed DDS member Edgar Matobato, who confirmed they took orders from Duterte. Whistleblowers from the said group alleged they carried out kill orders from Duterte himself.Īs a lawmaker, De Lima headed the probe into Duterte’s drug war, which took the lives of at least 6,000 people – 30,000 if vigilante-style killings are included, according to human rights groups. When De Lima was still the chairperson of the Commission on Human Rights (CHR), she probed into the killings of the so-called Davao Death Squad (DDS). She was also detained during the former president’s term. The cases against De Lima flourished under former president Rodrigo Duterte. (The court said, although it was proven there exists an illegal drug trade inside the New Bilibid Prison, the prosecution failed to show positive evidence that links former senator De Lima and Ronnie Dayan in the said drug trade.) “ Ang sinabi ng hukuman, although napatunayan na meron ngang illegal drug trading sa loob ng NBP, walang naipakitang ebidensya of positive evidence ang prosecution na mag-uugnay kay senator De Lima at Ronnie Dayan sa nasabing illegal na kalakaran ng droga,” Tacardon explained. In an interview with reporters after the promulgation, De Lima’s lawyer Filibon “Boni” Tacardon quoted the court and said the prosecution failed to prove De Lima’s ties to the alleged drug trade inside the national penitentiary. “Ultimately, the retraction created reasonable doubt which warrants the acquittal of both accused,” he added. Hence, this Court is constrained to consider the subsequent retraction of witness Ragos,” Presiding Judge Abraham Joseph Alcantara said in his ruling. Without his testimony, the crucial link to establish conspiracy is shrouded with reasonable doubt. “Under the circumstances of this case, the testimony of witness Ragos is necessary to sustain any possible conviction. The money was allegedly used by De Lima to fund her 2016 senatorial run. In the charge where De Lima attained her most recent victory, she was accused of alleged violation of section 5 of the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002 that penalizes the “sale, trading, administration, dispensation, delivery, distribution and transportation of illegal drugs.”īetween November 2012 to March 2013, De Lima and Ragos allegedly extorted money from persons deprived of liberty inside the New Bilibid Prison, according to the charge sheet. I am extremely grateful to all those who stood by and prayed for me all these years.” I am of course happy that with this second acquittal in the three cases filed against me, my release from more than six years of persecution draws nearer. That’s already two cases down, and one more to go. In a statement after her acquittal, De Lima said: “I had no doubt from the very beginning that I will be acquitted in all the cases the Duterte regime has fabricated against me based on the merits and the strength of my innocence.
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