MANILA, Philippines — Former Sen. Leila de Lima, a vocal critic of former President Rodrigo Duterte’s bloody war on drugs, has been acquitted of all drug charges brought against her by the previous administration.
On Monday, Judge Gener Gito of the Muntinlupa Regional Trial Court (RTC) granted her demurrer to evidence filed on March 20 in her last remaining case. This decision marks a significant turning point in what her supporters have called a politically motivated ordeal.
A demurrer is a motion to dismiss a case filed by an accused on the grounds that the evidence presented by the prosecution is insufficient for a criminal conviction. Once granted, it is considered an acquittal by the court.
“The prosecution was not able to prove the guilt of all the accused beyond reasonable doubt,” wrote Gito, citing a lack of evidence to establish a conspiracy between De Lima, former Bureau of Corrections Director Franklin Jesus Bucayu, and other codefendants to engage in illegal drug trading within New Bilibid Prison (NBP).
De Lima was also cleared in two separate disobedience cases by the Quezon City RTC Branch 76.
In a six-page decision signed by Judge Renato Pambid on May 30 but released only on Monday, the Quezon City court granted her petition for certiorari, effectively overturning the Quezon City Metropolitan Trial Court’s earlier dismissal of her motion to quash these charges.
The disobedience cases, which lingered alongside the more prominent drug cases, were based on allegations that De Lima had instructed her former aide Ronnie Dayan to ignore a 2016 congressional subpoena during drug-related hearings. These were the final legal hurdles she faced.
