Manila mayor’s son allowed to post P400,000 bail
Court finds evidence vs Manny Lim ‘weak’
By Allison Lopez
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 15:25:00 05/15/2008
Filed Under: Crime, Illegal drugs, trial
MANILA, Philippines -- The Manila Regional Trial Court allowed the son of Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim to post P400,000 bail on Wednesday after finding the evidence presented by the prosecution in drug charges against the accused was "weak."
In an eight-page order, Judge Adelina Calderon Bargas of Manila Regional Trial Court Branch 13 noted the prosecution "did not file any opposition or comment on the petition for bail" filed by Manuel Lim's lawyer, Reynaldo Bagatsing.
The younger Lim, who filed the petition on April 21, paid the bail in cash at the Office of the Clerk of Court around 4 p.m. Wednesday.
Though the 44-year-old businessman was charged with the non-bailable offense of drug pushing, the court ruled that in cases where evidence is not strong, the presumption of innocence remains with the accused.
The court also noted that none of the prosecution witnesses showed that a transaction had taken place between the accused Lim, Ronald Pascual and Joel Sabado, and agents of Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) who conducted the buy-bust operation in Sta. Cruz, Manila in which the three were arrested.
Lim claimed that he was merely buying P500 worth of shabu (methamphetamine hydrochloride) and was surprised that the agents arrested him for supposedly selling 100 grams of the illegal drug, valued at P340,000.
Since only Lim had posted bail, Pascual and Sabado will remain at the PDEA detention center in Quezon City.
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