De Lima lawyer calls her acquittal in drug case 'a great moral victory'

ABS-CBN News

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2018/news/08/02/20180802-leila-delima1-rm.jpg"/><figcaption>Detained Sen. Leila de Lima waves to her supporters as she arrives at a Metropolitan Trial Court branch in Quezon City on Aug. 2, 2018. <em>ABS-CBN News/File</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>MANILA - One of Sen. Leila de Lima&#x27;s lawyers on Thursday described as a moral victory her acquittal in one of three drug cases she is facing amid the prevailing political climate.</p><p>&quot;Today marks the 1,455 days of Sen. Leila de Lima being incarcerated... this is a great moral victory for us especially in the time of [President Rodrigo] Duterte,&quot; lawyer Rolly Peoro told ANC. </p><p>&quot;Moving forward, we&#x27;ll see this as a morale booster and a source of inspiration to continue our legal defense of Sen. Leila de Lima.&quot;</p><p>A Muntinlupa City court on Wednesday granted the senator&#x27;s demurrer to evidence in the case involving Jad Dera, who supposedly ran the illegal drug trade in the New Bilibid Prison with the detained senator. A demurrer is essentially a motion to dismiss a case due to insufficient evidence.</p><p>The same court, however, denied De Lima&#x27;s demurrer and motion to post bail in the case involving her former bodyguard Ronnie Dayan. She also has a pending motion for bail in her third case.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/02/17/21/muntinlupa-court-junks-1-of-3-drug-cases-vs-de-lima">Muntinlupa court junks 1 of 3 drug cases vs De Lima</a></li></ul><p>Peoro said the prosecution failed to present strong evidence that De Lima was involved in illicit activities.</p><p>&quot;First, there was no drug. The prosecution failed to present even 1 gram of illegal drugs in these cases,&quot; he said. &quot;This is one for the books because I think this is the only case in the Philippines or even the whole world [of] a drug case having no drugs.&quot;</p><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" frameBorder="0" height="100%" id="ivsplayer01" scrolling="no" src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/html/iframe-src.html?iframeid=ivsplayer01&amp;key=e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603&amp;spid=3001339&amp;vid=1623089" width="100%"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more in <a href="//www.iwantv.com.ph/">iWantv</a> or <a href="//tfc.tv/">TFC.tv</a></div><p>De Lima&#x27;s defense team is preparing to file a motion for reconsideration for the court&#x27;s decision on her second case involving Dayan. The senator is not a flight risk and will fight the pending cases to prove her innocence to the end, Peoro said.</p><p>The lawyer also said he considers the court&#x27;s decision a silver lining, saying they now have a chance to show their version of the story to the public.</p><p>&quot;The congressional hearings were a very successful demolition job against Sen. Leila de Lima. In the court hearings, the difference now [is] we have the chance to counter, to cross examine the witnesses and to find inconsistencies and false statements from the witnesses of prosecution,&quot; Peoro added, referring to hearings at the House of Representatives on the supposed proliferation of illegal drugs at the national penitentiary.</p><p>De Lima has been detained since February 2017 for allegedly pocketing drug payoffs from convicted crime lords at the New Bilibid Prison when she was still justice secretary. </p><p>She has decried the charges as political persecution due to her opposition to Duterte’s deadly war on drugs and her criticism of alleged human rights violations under his administration.</p>

<p>One of Sen. Leila de Lima's lawyers on Thursday described as a "great moral victory" her acquittal of a drug case she is facing amid the prevailing political climate.</p>

One of Sen. Leila de Lima's lawyers on Thursday described as a "great moral victory" her acquittal of a drug case she is facing amid the prevailing political climate.

De Lima lawyer calls her acquittal in drug case 'a great moral victory' | ABS-CBN

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De Lima lawyer calls her acquittal in drug case 'a great moral victory'

De Lima lawyer calls her acquittal in drug case 'a great moral victory'

ABS-CBN News

Published Feb 18, 2021 11:22 AM PHT

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Updated Feb 18, 2021 11:35 AM PHT

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ANC

Matters of Fact

Leila de Lima

Rolly Peoro

acquittal

drug case

Rodrigo Duterte

Muntinlupa City court

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