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Muntinlupa court junks contempt case vs De Lima, lawyer

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Mike Navallo, ABS-CBN News

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="Senator Leila DeLima attends her hearing at the Quezon City Regional Trial Court on Friday, June 22, 2018. Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News/file" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2022/news/05/07/20180622-de-lima-qc-rtc-jc-4.jpg"/><figcaption>Senator Leila DeLima attends her hearing at the Quezon City Regional Trial Court on Friday, June 22, 2018. Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News/file</figcaption></figure></div>MANILA — A Muntinlupa court has junked an indirect contempt case against detained Senator Leila de Lima and Atty Filibon Tacardon over the lawyer’s statements to the media about the senator’s drug cases.<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">JUST IN: Muntinlupa RTC junks indirect contempt case vs detained Sen. Leila de Lima and lawyer Filibon Tacardon over Tacardon’s statements to the media. Court says Tacardon’s statements are “mere echoes of the testimonies of the prosecution witnesses,” not malicious. <a href="https://t.co/oQ1z4XRXrQ">pic.twitter.com/oQ1z4XRXrQ</a>— Mike Navallo (@mikenavallo) <a href="https://twitter.com/mikenavallo/status/1529991570153705472?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 27, 2022</a></blockquote><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charSet="utf-8" type="text/javascript"></script>In a 33-page order dated May 2, Muntinlupa Regional Trial Court Branch 206 Judge Gener Gito granted De Lima and Tacardon’s motion to dismiss the case.“[W]hat respondent Tacardon reported to the media are mere echoes of the testimonies of the prosecution witnesses. The Court does not find malice in them nor contumacious in those statements,” Gito said.Government prosecutors, in December 2020, filed a petition for indirect contempt against De Lima and Tacardon, accusing them of violating the sub judice rule which bars parties to a case from discussing the merits in public to avoid influencing the outcome of the case.<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/amp/news/12/04/20/govt-prosecutors-ask-court-to-cite-de-lima-lawyer-in-contempt-over-statements-on-drug-cases">Gov’t prosecutors ask court to cite De Lima, lawyer in contempt over statements on drug cases</a></li></ul>They cited 2 statements by Tacardon to the media that officials of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency and the Anti-Money Laundering Council have allegedly cleared De Lima from the illegal drug charges and that drug lord Vicente Sy admitted on the witness stand that he has never met the senator despite previously claiming he gave P500,000 as campaign funds to De Lima in 2012.<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/07/30/21/doj-says-drug-lord-vicente-sy-dies">DOJ confirms death of convicted drug lord Vicente Sy</a></li></ul>The court said Tacardon’s statements did not meet the “clear and present danger” test in assessing whether statements are contemptuous.“The Court deciphered the comments and utterances of respondent Atty. Tacardon to the various media outlets and find nothing therein that would create a &#x27;clear and present danger&#x27; to the administration of justice. What respondent Atty. Tacardon reported are the answers of the prosecution witnesses during their cross-examination. Respondent Atty. Tacardon merely reported the admissions made by those witnesses,” Judge Gito said.The court also noted there was no violation of the sub judice rule because Tacardon only restated the admissions of the prosecution witnesses and his statements were “not fabricated, edited, slanted or couched in such a manner that it may influence the judge.”Tacardon also did not discuss the merits of the case nor did he analyze the impact of the admissions to the merits of the case, the court said.<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">De Lima was supposedly complicit in Tacardon’s statements to the media by authorizing the lawyer to make the claims. But the court rejected this allegation. <a href="https://t.co/X6o97ZCOkn">pic.twitter.com/X6o97ZCOkn</a>— Mike Navallo (@mikenavallo) <a href="https://twitter.com/mikenavallo/status/1530008399756558337?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 27, 2022</a></blockquote><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charSet="utf-8" type="text/javascript"></script>The court also differentiated the case from other cases like those of ousted Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno, who was reprimanded for publicly claiming that the grant of the quo warranto petition against her would result in a dictatorship and destroy the judiciary.In contrast, the court absolved both Tacardon and De Lima.De Lima was supposedly complicit in Tacardon’s statements to the media by authorizing the lawyer to make the claims.But the court rejected this allegation.“If respondent Atty. Tacardon cannot be punished for those statements, the same can be said true likewise for Senator De Lima. Her indictment to the case was on the basis of complicity; of she having authorized respondent Atty. Tacardon to make those statements complained of,” he said.<div>WITNESSES RECANT TESTIMONY VS DE LIMA</div>The ruling comes after two key witnesses against De Lima retracted their allegations against her.In April, self-confessed drug lord Kerwin Espinosa took back all his allegations against De Lima during a 2016 Senate hearing that he gave a total of P8 million in drug payoffs to De Lima when the latter was Justice Secretary, through her former driver, Ronnie Dayan.<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/amp/news/04/28/22/kerwin-espinosa-recants-allegations-vs-de-lima-counsel">&#x27;Not true&#x27;: Kerwin Espinosa recants all allegations vs De Lima, says lawyer</a></li></ul>A few days later, former Bureau of Corrections OIC Rafael Ragos also recanted his testimony in court that he personally delivered P10 million of alleged drug money to Dayan at De Lima’s house in Parañaque, accusing former Justice secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II of pressuring him to testify against De Lima.<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/amp/news/05/02/22/key-witness-retracts-drug-accusations-vs-de-lima">Another witness retracts drug accusations vs De Lima</a></li></ul>Aguirre has denied the claim.<figure class="op-interactive"><iframe height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/crnB3dooHoE?enablejsapi=1" width="560"></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>Dayan and De Lima also rejected the allegations against them.In mid-May, Dayan testified in his defense that no delivery of drug money to De Lima’s house ever happened.He also recanted his earlier testimony before the House of Representatives that he supposedly received drug money from Espinosa.He accused the late Rep. Rey Umali, then the House Justice committee chair, of forcing him to testify against De Lima and to sign an affidavit which Umali’s lawyer allegedly prepared.<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/amp/news/05/13/22/dayan-testifies-no-drug-money-delivered-to-de-lima">After Ragos’ retraction, Dayan testifies: No drug money delivered to De Lima</a></li></ul>De Lima has moved to dismiss 1 of his 2 pending drug cases by submitting Ragos’ affidavit. <ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/amp/news/05/07/22/de-lima-urges-court-to-dismiss-drug-case-citing-ragos-affidavit">‘Zero evidence’: De Lima urges court to dismiss drug case, citing Ragos affidavit</a></li></ul>In February last year, a Muntinlupa court junked a third drug case against her.<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>De Lima has maintained the cases against her are political persecution allegedly borne out of President Rodrigo Duterte vengeance because she initiated a Senate probe into his bloody drug war.

A Muntinlupa court has junked an indirect contempt case against detained Senator Leila de Lima and Atty Filibon Tacardon over the lawyer’s statements to the media about the senator’s drug cases.

Muntinlupa court junks contempt case vs De Lima, lawyer

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Muntinlupa court junks contempt case vs De Lima, lawyer

Mike Navallo,

ABS-CBN News

Published May 27, 2022 10:36 AM PHT

|

Updated May 27, 2022 12:23 PM PHT

Read More:

leila de lima

Filibon Tacardon

war on drugs

muntinlupa

sub judice rule

Vicente Sy

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