Muntinlupa RTC defers decision on de Lima bail petition

Leila de Lima

A Muntinlupa court has deferred ruling on former Sen. Leila de Lima’s bail petition to resolve “inconsistencies” in the markings of the prosecution’s offered evidence.

The Muntinlupa City Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 256 was set to decide on the bail petition on one of her two drug charges on Monday.

However, De Lima’s legal counsel, Boni Tacardon, said that the state prosecutors made an honest mistake in their markings, which caused the court to defer the decision.

“It was not intentional. We saw the transcripts and there were some discrepancies. [The parties] both agreed to just fix the marking of the documents,” Tacardon said.

A formal offer of evidence contains documentary and object evidence submitted by a party, which testifies to their admissibility before the court, Tacardon explained.

The court did not give a time frame for the bail resolution but Tacardon said that judges usually take weeks to settle these kinds of issues.

The promulgation set by Muntinlupa City RTC Branch 204 for her Criminal Case No. 165 will nonetheless push through on May 12.

However, Tacardon said she would still have to wait for the resolution of her pending bail petition to be freed from detention even if RTC Branch 204 acquits De Lima on Friday.

“That’s why we are hoping and praying that the truth and justice will prevail in these cases,” Tacardon said.

The bail petition is for Criminal Case No. 17-167, in which De Lima was accused of conspiring with former Bureau of Corrections Director Franklin Jesus Bucayu and her nephew Jose Adrian Dera to commit illegal drug trading within New Bilibid Prison.

One of De Lima’s drug cases charged by the Department of Justice was dismissed in 2021 by the Muntinlupa City RTC Branch 205 for insufficient evidence.Despite having no criminal conviction, De Lima has been detained for more than six years. INQ

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