Asks for DOJ to stop blocking witness to testify over her drug case
Detained former Senator Leila de Lima on Thursday asked President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to “order” the Department of Justice (DOJ) to “stop blocking the testimony” of a recanting witness in her ongoing drug-related trial.
“Mr. President, I will not and will never ask you to interfere with the courts. This is my earnest and most respectful plea to you, your Excellency: Order DOJ to stop blocking the testimony of the recanting prosecution witness Rafael Ragos and for them to stop presenting obviously perjured witnesses like Herbert Colangco,” De Lima said in a tweet.
Ragos appeared on Sept. 30 at the Muntinlupa City Regional Trial Court (RTC) supposedly to affirm his April 30 affidavit recanting his statements linking De Lima to the illegal drug trade, but was prevented by prosecution lawyers from affirming his retraction on the witness stand.
Ragos’ lawyer, Michael de Castro, then told reporters that the DOJ filed a motion for reconsideration (MR) on an earlier court order that would have allowed his client to take the stand.
In their six-page MR, the DOJ panel led by Provincial Prosecutor Ramoncito Bienvenido Ocampo Jr. argued that “recantations are typically viewed with suspicion and hardly given much weight.”
“Obviously, Mr. Ragos’ alleged recantation is nothing but an afterthought. The timeliness and circumstances of the alleged recantation is clearly suspect and even amounts to perjury,” they said.
According to De Lima, Mr. Marcos is in the position to undo the “wrongs” inflicted on her by former President Rodrigo Duterte.
“You can reverse the grievous wrongs inflicted on me by your predecessor. Please, Mr. President. Salamat po (thank you),” De Lima said.
“I have faith in our justice system, but I pray that the DOJ panel will be instruments of truth and justice this time around,” added the ex-lawmaker, who endured being hostaged at the PNP headquarters last Sunday.
Earlier this year, Ragos, a former National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and Bureau of Corrections officer-in-charge, recanted his allegations implicating De Lima in the illegal drugs trade.
Ragos accused former Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II of coercing him into testifying against De Lima, which Aguirre denied.
On Tuesday, the Palace said Mr. Marcos “cannot and will not intervene” with the possible request of De Lima for home furlough, after a fellow detainee briefly took her hostage at the national police headquarters last Sunday.
Calls for the release of the former senator were made anew following the hostage-taking incident.
De Lima, a staunch critic of Duterte, was arrested on drug charges on February 24, 2017, after a long-drawn-out public feud where the former leader accused her of immorality and collecting money from drug sources and vowed to destroy her.
The 63-year-old, who lost a Senate reelection bid in May, has always maintained her innocence, rejecting the cases against her as fabricated and a product of political persecution.
De Lima is a former Justice Secretary and chair of the Commission on Human Rights.