‘Flex long arm of the law’ vs ‘real criminals,’ De Lima tells DOJ

KERWIN ESPINOSA AT MANILA RTC BRANCH 20 / AUGUST 30, 2018
Self confessed drug distributor Kerwin Espinosa arrives at the Manila Regional Trial Court Branch 20 in Manila on Thursday, August 30, 2018, to attend the hearing on the illegal drug cases filed by the Department of Justice against him.
INQUIRER PHOTO / GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE

MANILA, Philippines —The recent dismissal of a drug trafficking case against Kerwin Espinosa and several others should remind the Department of Justice (DOJ) to prosecute “real criminals” and “stop wasting its energy” against the political opposition, Senator Leila de Lima said Sunday.

De Lima, in a dispatch from Camp Crame where she is currently detained, said the DOJ can start getting convictions against “real drug lords” once “it stops wasting its energy on my selective prosecution.”

“It will serve the DOJ well to remember to flex the long arm of the law more often against the real criminals, rather than the strong hand of the state against the political opposition. The moment it stops wasting its energy on my selective prosecution, maybe then it will start getting convictions against the real drug lords,” she said.

The Makati City Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 64 dismissed the drug trafficking case against Espinosa, Wu Tuan Yuan a.k.a. Peter Co, and two others.

In a 13-page order dated Dec. 17, the court through Judge Gina M. Bibat-Palamos granted the demurrers to evidence filed by the accused as the court cited the prosecution’s failure “to adduce evidence to overturn the presumption of innocence  enjoyed by the herein accused.”

The court also granted the demurrers evidence of co-accused Lovely A. Impal, and witness Marcelo L. Adorco. The demurrers stated that the prosecution has not presented other evidence aside from Adorco’s testimony to prove their case.

“I really do not know the merits or the lack thereof of the drug cases against Kerwin Espinosa, Peter Co, et. al. I am in no position to judge their guilt or innocence in the recently dismissed case,” De Lima said, but added that “characters such as…Espinosa” was used under the previous DOJ leadership to “falsely implicate” her in the drug trade.

De Lima, a staunch critic of President Rodrigo Duterte, has been detained since February 2017 over what she has repeatedly branded as “trumped-up” drug charges. The Muntinlupa Regional Trial Court Branch 205 earlier granted her demurrer to evidence in Case Number 17-166, marking her acquittal in one of the three cases, which she called a “moral victory.”

“It didn’t matter to them that the charges against them would stick as long as there’s something they could use in their demolition job against me,” she added.

Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra earlier said he has ordered Prosecutor General Benedicto Malcontento to contest the decision of the Makati RTC Branch 64 on the dismissed drug case, adding that he is “saddened by this development.”

“I can understand the frustration of the current SOJ (Secretary of Justice) when he remarked that ‘sooner or later the long arm of the law will catch up with these people and they will answer for their crimes,’” De Lima went on.

“I fully concur. But Aguirre’s (former Sec. Vitaliano Aguirre) DOJ should have displayed the same vigor exhibited in running after me in pursuing these cases vs. Espinosa, et. al. With their misplaced zeal and wrongful prosecution of an innocent target, rule of law and suffer. An innocent suffers while the real guilty malefactors benefit therefrom,” she added.

JPV