Supreme Court rejects De Lima petition to quash drug charges

PLEA FOR FREEDOM Supporters of Sen. Leila de Lima hang blue ribbons calling for her release after a Supreme Court ruling allowed the lower courts to continue hearing cases of drug trafficking filed against her. —MARIANNE BERMUDEZ

Voting 9-6 on Tuesday, the Supreme Court justices rejected Sen. Leila de Lima’s petition to quash her indictment for drug trafficking, ruling that the fiercest critic of President Rodrigo Duterte’s brutal war on drugs prematurely sought their intervention to void the arrest warrant issued against her by the Muntinlupa City Regional Trial Court (RTC).

The full court also affirmed the authority of Presiding Judge Juanita Guerrero of Muntinlupa RTC Branch 204 to try De Lima for alleged violation of Republic Act No. 9165, or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.

“The judge did not gravely abuse her discretion in finding probable cause to order the petitioner’s arrest,” Associate Justice Presbitero Velasco Jr., writing for the majority, said in the ruling.

“The court also found that the text of respondent judge’s order did not violate [the] petitioner’s constitutional rights and is not contrary to established jurisprudence on determining probable cause,” he added.

Lack of merit

Theodore Te, spokesperson for the Supreme Court, said the justices dismissed De Lima’s petition for certiorari for lack of merit.

“Under the Rules (of Court), everyone who wishes may file a motion for reconsideration,” Te said in a press conference.

He said 12 of the 15 justices, including Velasco, issued their own opinion on the legal matter.

De Lima had wanted to keep Velasco from joining the deliberation on her petition, saying an investigative report written by journalist Marites Vitug linked him to German Agojo, one of the convicted criminals who had testified against her.

Mother doesn’t know

De Lima, who has been detained in a police detention cell at Camp Crame since her arrest on Feb. 24, has consistently criticized President Duterte’s violent solution to the country’s narcotics problem.

Earlier, she disclosed that her 84-year-old mother, Norma, did not know she was in jail.

Her siblings, she said, told their mother that she was on an official foreign trip.

As chair of the Commission on Human Rights, De Lima investigated in 2009 alleged summary executions of criminal suspects by the so-called Davao Death Squad when Mr. Duterte was the mayor of Davao City.

As chair of the Senate committee on justice and human rights, she investigated last year alleged summary executions in the war on drugs launched by Mr. Duterte after taking office as President.

Mr. Duterte, who had warned Congress not to investigate his campaign against narcotics, accused De Lima of accepting payoffs for allowing the illegal drug trade inside the New Bilibid Prison when she was the justice secretary.

‘Danger’ to citizens

De Lima’s lead counsel, former Solicitor General Florin Hilbay, said the Supreme Court decision posed “danger” to the citizens, as it practically authorized the Department of Justice (DOJ) to prosecute anyone “with a bogus drug charge.”

“It’s six votes for justice and two votes shy of vindication,” Hilbay told the Inquirer by phone. “From a purely legal standpoint, this case ought to be a surprise for everyone.”

“Now everyone is in danger because the DOJ has been able to successfully concoct a case without any evidence,” he said.

But Solicitor General Jose Calida expressed elation over the ruling, saying it “enthrones the majesty of the law, which is no respecter of men and women however privileged they are.”

“This decision further negates the erroneous perception that the government’s war against drugs is waged only against the unlettered and the underprivileged,” Calida said in a statement.

Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II said the ruling vindicated the DOJ’s position that the regional trial courts and not the Sandiganbayan had jurisdiction over drug cases.

In tossing out De Lima’s petition for certiorari, the Supreme Court held that the RTC and not the Sandiganbayan is the appropriate court to hear drug cases brought against public officials.

Graft cases only

“The Sandiganbayan’s jurisdiction is limited to violations of the antigraft laws and [does] not extend to violations of the drugs law,” the court said.

All four of Mr. Duterte’s appointees to the high court — Associate Justices Samuel Martires, Noel Tijam, Andres Reyes Jr. and Alexander Gesmundo — voted to throw out De Lima’s petition.

They were joined by Associate Justices Teresita Leonardo-de Castro, Diosdado Peralta, Lucas Bersamin and Mariano del Castillo.

Those who voted to grant De Lima’s plea were Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno, Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio and Associate Justices Marvic Leonen, Estela Perlas-Bernabe, Francis Jardeleza and Benjamin Caguioa.

Martires, Peralta, Gesmundo and De Castro are former justices on the Sandiganbayan.

The junking of De Lima’s plea was the third major legal challenge hurdled by the Duterte administration.

In November last year, the tribunal voted 9-5 to sustain Mr. Duterte’s order allowing the burial of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos at Libingan ng mga Bayani in Taguig City.

Majority of the justices also upheld the legality of Mr. Duterte’s decision to place the entire island of Mindanao under martial law following the attack of Islamic State-inspired Maute and Abu Sayyaf terrorists on Marawi City on May 23. —With a report from Jhoanna Ballaran