People vs. Leila De Lima, et al.

Ruling

Accordingly, on February 17, 2017, three Informations were filed against petitioner De Lima and several co-accused before the RTC of Muntinlupa City. One of the Informations was docketed as Criminal Case No. 17-165 [18] and raffled off to Branch 204, presided by respondent judge. This Information charging petitioner for violation of Section 5 in relation to Section (jj), Section 26(b), and Section 28 of Republic Act No. (RA) 9165, contained the following averments: That within the period from November 2012 to March 2013, in the City of Muntinlupa, Philippines, and within the jurisdiction of this Honorable Court, accused Leila M. De Lima, being then the Secretary of the Department of Justice, and accused Rafael Marcos Z. Ragos, being then the Officer-in-Charge of the Bureau of Corrections, by taking advantage of their public office, conspiring and confederating with accused Ronnie P. Dayan, being then an employee of the Department of Justice detailed to De Lima, all of them having moral ascendancy or influence over inmates in the New Bilibid Prison, did then and there commit illegal drug trading, in the following manner: De Lima and Ragas, with the use of their power, position, and authority, demand, solicit and extort money from the high profile inmates in the New Bilibid Prison to support the senatorial bid of De Lima in the May 2016 election; by reason of which, the inmates, not being lawfully authorized by law and through the use of mobile phones and other electronic devices, did then and there willfully and unlawfully trade and traffic dangerous drugs, and thereafter give and deliver to De Lima, through Ragas and Dayan, the proceeds of illegal drug trading amounting to Five Million (P5,000,000.00) Pesos on 24 November 2012, Five Million (P5,000,000.00) Pesos on 15 December 2012, and One Hundred Thousand (P100,000.00) Pesos weekly " tara " each from the high profile inmates in the New Bilibid Prison. [19] On February 20, 2017, petitioner filed a Motion to Quash , [20] mainly raising the following: the RTC lacks jurisdiction over the offense charged against petitioner; the DOJ Panel lacks authority to file the Information the Information charges more than one offense; the allegations and the recitals of facts do not allege the corpus delicti of the charge; the Information is based on testimonies of witnesses who are not qualified to be discharged as state witnesses; and the testimonies of these witnesses are hearsay. [21] On February 23, 2017, respondent judge issued the presently assailed Order [22] finding probable cause for the issuance of warrants of arrest against De Lima and her co-accused. The Order stated, viz .: After a careful evaluation of the herein Information and all the evidence presented during the preliminary investigation conducted in this case by the Department of Justice, Manila, the Court finds sufficient probable cause for the issuance of Warrants of Arrest against all the accused LEILA M. DE LIMA, RAFAEL MARCOS Z. RAGOS a