Former senator Leila De Lima (File photo) MANILA - Defense counsels of detained former senator Leila De Lima asked anew a Muntinlupa court to either dismiss the drug charges against her and her aide Ronnie Dayan or allow bail for their temporary liberty. In a 33-page motion dated Feb. 23, the two accused through defense lawyer Teddy Esteban Rigoroso asked the Muntinlupa City Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 204 to dismiss the charges and order their release following the retraction of testimony of one witness former Bureau of Corrections officer in charge Rafael Ragos. Ragos retracted his earlier testimony that PHP10 million from drug lords had been sent to De Lima when she was still Justice Secretary and claimed that he had been intimidated and threatened with prosecution to make the allegations. After his initial retraction last May 6, Ragos has been subsequently called again to the witness stand five times as a witness for co-accused Dayan the last time of which was last Feb. 1
Former senator Leila de Lima faces newsmen in this file photo while she was still secretary of justice during the Aquino administration. (PNA photo by Ben Pulta) MANILA-Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla on Monday said his office welcomes any move before the courts by the defense counsels representing former senator Leila de Lima for her liberty. "The case is ongoing. Probably they (De Lima counsels) should petition for habeas corpus and explain the case to the courts (and) we will not object," Remulla told newsmen. De Lima, who made an unsuccessful bid for reelection in the Senate in the last elections while behind bars, has been detained since 2017 at the Philippine National Police (PNP) headquarters in Quezon City. She is facing criminal charges before the Muntinlupa regional trial court (RTC) for allegedly running a protection racket while she was secretary of justice for detained drug lords who allegedly made contributions for her senatorial bid. A number of key wit