Background: The case pending in Branch 205 under Judge Amelia Fabros-Corpuz involves the complaint of the Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption (VACC) led by defeated Senatorial Candidate Dante Jimenez. Using the statements of convicted drug lords Hans Anton Tan and Peter Co, Senator Leila M. de Lima was originally charged with illegal drug trading in conspiracy with Jose Adrian Dera ( JAD). On October 20, 2017, the Prosecution filed an amended Information which drastically changed the crime imputed against the Senator: From “illegal drug trading” to “conspiracy to trade illegal drugs,” stating that Senator De Lima through Dera and the convicts have “decide[d] and agree[d] to commit illegal drug trading”. This was opposed by Senator De Lima, pointing out that it was not a mere amendment, but already a substitution of the original Information, considering that the original crime they have imputed against her was that of illegal drug trading, a crime which requires the alleged illegal drug traded to be specified together with the amount and/or weight thereof, and be presented as evidence. By changing the charge to mere conspiracy, the Prosecution claims that they now only need to prove the agreement to sell drugs (without showing that there was ever any drugs sold). This is significant because the agreement was allegedly between Sen. De Lima and the convicted Bilibid inmates, who were reported to be either coerced (i.e. Jaybee Sebastian, Peter Co and Vicente Sy attacked in Bilibid, Tony Co murdered) or rewarded to speak against the Senator. 1 Violation of Sec. 5 in relation to Sec. 26 and Section 28 of RA 9165, by reason of which a warrant of arrest was issued against her, causing her continuous detention for over a year. 2 Sec. 26 in relation to Section 5 and Section 28 of RA 9165 3 Corpus delicti.
Coverage of the 10 August 2018 hearing: On 10 August 2018, Senator De Lima was scheduled to be arraigned for Case No. 17-166 (People of the Philippines v. De Lima and Dera) in Branch 205, RTC Muntinlupa, wherein a plea of guilty or not guilty was set to be entered. Refusing to enter a plea herself, the Court entered the plea of “not guilty” in her behalf.
Senator De Lima refused to enter a plea due to the following reasons:
The charges against her, and the case in its entirety, are truly fabricated and purely based on orchestrated lies;
Since Day 1, Senator De Lima denied ever knowing or even meeting Dera.
The apparent confusion on the part of the Prosecution – as was clearly manifested in the flip-flopping of what offense is to be imputed against her – transgresses Senator De Lima’s Constitutional right to be informed of the nature and cause of accusation against her;
The Prosecution avers that Dera is allegedly the nephew of Senator De Lima, who solicited money and vehicles from Peter Co and other convicted drug lords in her behalf. However, Dera admitted in his Sinumpaang Salaysay, as well as in his Sinumpaang Kontra Salaysay, that he was an Action Agent of PNP-NCRPO Raid and merely used as his cover story that he had a connection with the Senator only to gain access to big time drug pushers serving sentence at the NBP’s Building 14. As early as March 2017, the Prosecution itself – through Prosecutor Peter Ong – acknowledged that there indeed is no familial nor work relationship between Senator De Lima and Dera. Neither of the two informations filed by the Prosecution specified with particularity the kind as well as the weight or amount of illegal drugs alleged to have been traded by Senator De Lima and Dera. The specific kind of the vehicles alleged to have been solicited by the Senator was also absent in either of the Informations. This runs counter to the doctrines laid down in the cases decided by the Supreme Court which requires the ‘body of the crime’ or corpus delicti to be identified in the Information. 4 See
Media Briefer released on 09 August 2018. 14, Art. III, 1987 Constitution. 6 Sinumpaang Salaysay of Dera dated 14 October 2016. 7 Sinumpaang Kontra- Salaysay of Dera dated 21 December 2016; 8 Transcript of Stenographic Notes, 10 March 2017, Criminal Case No. 17-166, pages 15-16. “COURT: Allegedly another boyfriend. All right. So it is now clear that Dera is not a nephew of Senator De Lima. ATTY. PALAD: He is not a nephew, he is not a police officer. COURT: He was never connected with the government? ATTY. PALAD: No, your Honor. He just graduated Criminology, 2012 or 2013, then converted into a police asset. PROS. ONG: As action agent, Your Honor. COURT: So it is now clear and it is now on record.” 5 Sec.