THE lawyer of inmates who accused Senator Leila de Lima of protecting the illegal drug trade in the national penitentiary when she was still Justice secretary said the case against her is strong, even though the House committee on justice investigating the case did not recommend charges against her.
“We should respect the committee’s decision since the principal aim of the probe was in aid of legislation,” said Ferdinand Topacio, counsel for several of the National Bilibid Prison inmates who tagged De Lima.
“We would have wanted [a recommendation for criminal indictment] but since there’s none, we are happy that the purpose has been served, which is to enlighten the public, enlighten the members of the committee and which will hopefully lead to legislation that would prevent others from doing what Senator De Lima did,” he added.
He said the committee led by Oriental Mindoro Rep. Reynaldo Umali already explained that the report did not include criminal and administrative recommendations to give way to the probes in the Justice Department and the Office of the Ombudsman.
Topacio said the House probe was very significant as it provided testimonies that could bolster the drug trafficking charges filed against De Lima before the Justice Department earlier this month by the Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption.
Among the key findings of the committee probe were the proliferation of illegal drug trade in NBP during De Lima’s stint as secretary of Justice, that her driver and alleged lover Ronnie Dayan served as her bagman, and that drug money was raised by inmates for her senatorial campaign.
“We will use this evidence gathered in the House inquiry in the preliminary investigation in the DoJ. The witnesses just need to appear before the DoJ and personally subscribe again to their affidavits,” he said.
The litigation lawyer who defended former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo in the criminal cases against her was also firm in his belief that the evidence against De Lima is already strong enough to file a case of violating the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act in court.
“You don’t actually need documentary evidence anymore because what you have are direct testimonies of witnesses based in first-hand accounts. And we’re not just talking about one witness. We have many witnesses corroborating one another’s testimonies,” he said.
Topacio said there is no truth to the claim of De Lima that the inquiry failed to produce evidence against her, noting that the witnesses included not only inmates but also former and current government officials.
“The major points in these testimonies were corroborated, so there is strong evidence against Senator De Lima,” the lawyer added.
Among the clients of Topacio that testified in the House’s inquiry were NBP inmates Herbert Colanggo, Jojo Baligad, Joel Capones, German Agojo, Jerry Pepino and Noel Martinez.