Court defers De Lima trial anew

The Quezon City court handling the disobedience to summons case against detained Sen. Leila de Lima has deferred trial anew after the prosecution failed to present their witness, Ronnie Dayan, the lawmaker’s former driver-bodyguard.

De Lima’s legal counsel, Filibon Tacardon, said the prosecution was given its “last opportunity” to present Dayan as its witness, pending the approval by Muntinlupa City regional trial courts (RTCs), where he faced drug charges, to allow him to take the witness stand in the QC court.

Judge Lorna Navarro-Domingo of the Muntinlupa RTC Branch 206 set a hearing for the prosecution’s motion next Friday. Both De Lima and Dayan faced illegal drug trading charges in the same court.

Waived as witness

If the prosecution fails to present Dayan at the next hearing in November, they would ask the court to waive him as witness, Tacardon said.

The disobedience case against De Lima stemmed from the complaint filed by former Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez, Rep. Reynaldo Umali and former Majority Leader Rodolfo Fariñas.

The three House leaders accused De Lima of inducing Dayan to snub an inquiry into the drug trade in the New Bilibid Prison. —JHESSET O. ENANO AND CEDRIX PEREZ