MANILA, Philippines — For the first time in almost a year, Senator Leila de Lima was allowed to leave her detention cell on Tuesday to attend a hearing for one of the three drug cases against her at the Muntinlupa Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 256.
De Lima wore a facemask, face shield, and personal protective equipment at the hearing, photographs released by her office showed.
According to her office, the senator was allowed to leave her detention cell for the first time this year due to the health procedures enforced by the Supreme Court following the Covid-19 pandemic.
In a February 5 order, the Muntinlupa Court allowed de Lima to attend in-person hearings. The government prosecutors appealed this ruling but the court dismissed their plea for “lack of merit”.
“The Court takes judicial notice of the apparent and recurrent incidences of technical glitches and the difficulties experienced during the course of the previous hearings. Indeed, the right of the accused to confront his or her witnesses cannot be served should the Court continue with the conduct of videoconferencing despite these recurring glitches,” the Muntinlupa court said.
During the hearing on Tuesday, de Lima’s legal counsel Atty. Rolly Peoro said the prosecution’s witness, high profile inmate Noel Martinez, was cross-examined.
“Sa cross-examination, may mga ilang nalinaw kami. Actually, natuwa kami sa mga ilang pagtatanggi at pag-aamin ni Noel Martinez. Sinabi niya na una, wala siyang personal knowledge sa mga drug transactions. Wala rin daw silang personal involvement sa kahit anong drug transaction. Nilinaw niya na kahit kaninong akusado—mula kay Senator De Lima, kay General Bucayu, kay Joenel Sanchez, kay Ronnie Dayan—wala siyang mga personal na transaction. Wala silang personal transaction, lalo na sa droga,” Peoro was quoted as saying in an interview transcript sent by de Lima’s office.
(During the cross-examination, there were things that we were able to clear out. Actually, we were happy about the denial and admission of Noel Martinez. He said that firstly, he does not have personal knowledge of drug transactions. He said he also does not have personal involvement in any drug transaction. He also said that any of the accused—Senator de Lima, General Bucayu, Joenel Sanchez, Ronnie Dayan—he never transacted with them personally. They don’t have any personal transactions, especially drug-related.)
“So kung ito ay conspiracy to commit illegal drug trading, siya, wala siyang alam daw sa mga illegal drug trading na yan. At nalinaw din na yung kanyang mga sinasabi na mga taong involved sa drug transaction, mga patay na…So yun yung mga lumabas sa kanyang testimonya. Para sa amin, pabor yun sa depensa namin,” he added.
(So if this case is a conspiracy to commit illegal drug trading, the witness does now have knowledge of the illegal drug trading. He also said that those involved in drug transactions are already dead…So that’s what came out in his testimony. For us, it favors our defense.)
De Lima has been detained at the PNP Custodial Center since February 2017 over drug charges in three different branches of the Muntinlupa RTC over her alleged involvement in the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) drug trade.
The senator has repeatedly denied the charges against her by the government, saying the charges against her are “trumped-up.”
Last December, the senator sought the dismissal of two of her drug cases.
READ: De Lima to seek dismissal of 2 drug charges