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Muntinlupa court reopens De Lima trial for 1 day to receive PAO lawyer’s testimony

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Mike Navallo, ABS-CBN News

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="Sen. Leila De Lima is escorted by members of the Philippine National Police after her drug case hearing at the Muntinlupa Regional Trial court branch 204 in Muntinlupa City on April 17, 2023. Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2023/tvpatrol/04/28/20230417-de-lima-drug-case-hearing-jc0223.jpg"/><figcaption>Sen. Leila De Lima is escorted by members of the Philippine National Police after her drug case hearing at the Muntinlupa Regional Trial court branch 204 in Muntinlupa City on April 17, 2023.<em> Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>MANILA — A Muntinlupa court has reopened the trial in 1 of 2 drug cases against former Sen. Leila de Lima but only for a day.</p><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">A Muntinlupa court reopens De Lima trial in drug case where ex-BuCor OIC Rafael Ragos recanted his testimony, by allowing a PAO lawyer to testify today, April 28, as rebuttal witness.<br/><br/>Ex-Sen. Leila de Lima to attend; Court to stick to May 12 promulgation of judgment. <a href="https://t.co/RzARHRCoKq">pic.twitter.com/RzARHRCoKq</a></p>— Mike Navallo (@mikenavallo) <a href="https://twitter.com/mikenavallo/status/1651703520423452672?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 27, 2023</a></blockquote><div><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charSet="utf-8" type="text/javascript"></script></div><p>In an order dated April 24, 2023, Muntinlupa Regional Trial Court Branch 204 Judge Abraham Joseph Alcantara granted the prosecution’s motion to reopen the trial to allow a Public Attorney’s Office lawyer to testify as a rebuttal witness.</p><p>PAO lawyer Demiteer Huerta is expected to testify in court on Friday, April 28.</p><p>Huerta, PAO’s OIC for administrative service, is 1 of 2 PAO lawyers who assisted former Bureau of Corrections OIC Rafael Ragos in executing affidavits implicating De Lima in the illegal drug trade.</p><p>Ragos would later on retract all his allegations against De Lima, claiming that former Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II had forced him to execute several affidavits. Aguirre denied the claim.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/05/02/22/key-witness-retracts-drug-accusations-vs-de-lima">Another witness retracts drug accusations vs De Lima</a></li></ul><p>De Lima&#x27;s team had opposed the prosecution&#x27;s move to reopen the trial, saying the panel of prosecutors had already agreed to submit the case for decision and therefore waived the opportunity to present rebuttal evidence.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/04/19/23/doj-moves-to-reopen-trial-present-witness-vs-de-lima">DOJ moves to reopen trial, present witness vs De Lima</a></li></ul><p>But the Muntinlupa court said the decision to reopen the trial is discretionary on the part of the court.</p><p>“There is no precise provision in the Rules of Court governing a motion to re-open a case for the reception of rebuttal evidence after a case has been submitted for decision but before judgment. It is a judicial action which is controlled only by the utmost interest of justice and rests entirely on the sound discretion of the Court,” it said.</p><p>&quot;The Court does not shrink from its responsibility to receive evidence in order to ferret out the truth,” it added.</p><p>The court however said it would stick to the schedule for the promulgation of judgment, which it earlier set on May 12, 2023, where the court would announce its verdict on De Lima and co-accused Ronnie Dayan.</p><p>De Lima and Dayan are accused of receiving P10 million worth of alleged drug money, which Ragos allegedly personally delivered to De Lima’s house in Parañaque in 2012 supposedly to support De Lima’s senatorial campaign.</p><p>De Lima did not run for senator in the 2013 elections but in 2016.</p><p>In its order allowing the reopening of the trial, the court said the rebuttal witness “shall be fully presented in one (1) day” and no motion for continuance will be allowed.</p><p>De Lima is expected to attend Friday’s hearing scheduled at 8:30 a.m.</p><div><strong>RELATED VIDEO</strong></div><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=2596781" width="100%"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div>

A Muntinlupa court has reopened the trial in 1 of 2 drug cases against former Sen. Leila de Lima but only for a day.

Muntinlupa court reopens De Lima trial for 1 day to receive PAO lawyer’s testimony

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Muntinlupa court reopens De Lima trial for 1 day to receive PAO lawyer’s testimony

Mike Navallo,

ABS-CBN News

Published Apr 28, 2023 07:50 AM PHT

|

Updated Apr 28, 2023 12:38 PM PHT

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Muntinlupa

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