Ragos: I was forced thrice to sign affidavits vs De Lima
Rafael Ragos
Former corrections bureau chief Rafael Ragos told a Muntinlupa court on Friday that he was coerced into signing prepared affidavits on three occasions in 2016 and 2017 falsely accusing former Sen. Leila de Lima of receiving bribes from drug lords at the national penitentiary.
Dealing a blow to the prosecution, the former Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) officer in charge affirmed his April 30 affidavit recanting his claims against De Lima and pointed to former Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II as the one who gave the order to “corroborate [the charges] or you know what happens,” according to Ragos’ lawyer Michael Christopher de Castro.
“Because it was commanded by the DOJ (Department of Justice) secretary at the time, he didn’t refuse,” the lawyer told reporters.
Aguirre did not immediately respond to the Inquirer’s request for comment.
Ragos took the stand during De Lima’s trial on Friday despite opposition from DOJ prosecutors, who had unsuccessfully petitioned Judge Abraham Joseph Alcantara of the Muntinlupa Regional Trial Court Branch 204 to deny the former’s return as a witness, arguing that any recantation of previous testimony was suspect.
Ragos first made his allegations against De Lima, who was justice secretary during the Aquino administration and exercised jurisdiction over the BuCor, during House and Senate hearings in 2016.
He said under oath that he delivered drug money to De Lima’s residence in Parañaque City on Nov. 24, 2012, and on Dec. 15, 2012, through her coaccused and former aide Ronnie Dayan.
The money, Ragos claimed at the time, had purportedly come from convicts plying the drug trade at the New Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa City, supposedly to help bankroll the justice secretary’s Senate candidacy.
De Lima, however, ran for senator only in 2016.
In 2019, Ragos testified in court as a prosecution witness and reiterated his claims against De Lima, only to recant three years later, in April.
Invited to sign affidavit
During Friday’s hearing, the witness identified three dates when he was allegedly forced to sign affidavits.
The first was on Sept. 5, 2016, at Solaire Resort and Casino in Parañaque City when Ragos was “invited” by Aguirre to sign the document, De Castro said.
Then on Sept. 26, according to his attorney, Ragos was dragged into the Public Attorneys Office (PAO) to sign another affidavit prepared by PAO lawyers.
READ: Drop cases vs De Lima, US officials urge gov’t
