Friends and allies of Senator Leila de Lima who are concerned about her safety under the hands of the police is asking the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) to allow Senate security personnel to guard her while she is detained at the Philippine National Police (PNP)’s Custodial Center.

The brazen killing of South Korean businessman Jee Ick-joo inside Camp Crame and the death of an inmate during a riot inside the New Bilibid Prisons despite the Special Action Force (SAF)’s tight security there raise alarm over De Lima’s safety, Senator Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan said.

“Hindi biro itong mga nakaraang araw na may sinakal at pinatay dito sa loob ng PNP. May sinaksak at pinatay sa loob ng Bilibid na dapat maximum security na hawak mismo ng PNP at SAF pero meron pa ring nakakalusot at may pinapatay. So we are concerned with her safety and security,” Pangilinan told reporters on Friday.

PNP spokesperson Senior Supt. Dionardo Carlos in turn gave this response. “If si (SPO3 Ricky) Sta. Isabel, (Supt. Raphael) Dumlao and that party ang magsesecure sa kanya, doon may question (If Sta. Isabel or Dumlao would be the ones securing her, that would be worrisome),” Carlos said in a press briefing.

Sta. Isabel and Dumlao were the primary suspects behind the killing of Jee. They were both members of the defunct Anti-Illegal Drugs Group, formerly based in Camp Crame.

Pangilinan said CIDG has allowed members of the Senate’s Office of the Sergeant-at-Arms (OSAA) to join the Custodial security guarding De Lima’s cell.

But Carlos explained there has been no formal arrangement yet on the inclusion of OSAA members to her security, adding that the court did not order the OSAA to provide personnel while De Lima is under police custody.

Carlos also stressed that De Lima will be safe in the PNP’s detention facility.

He said there is no reason for her allies to worry about her security because the PNP had kept former Senators Jinggoy Estrada and Bong Revilla safe since their detention in 2014 over pork barrel scam plunder raps.

De Lima has been brought inside the Custodial Center hours after CIDG members arrested her at the Senate. IDL</s>Take a look at the DOJ's drug charges against Senator Leila de Lima

MANILA, Philippines – The Muntinlupa City Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 204 ordered the arrest of Senator Leila de Lima on Thursday, February 23, over one of 3 criminal charges filed against her.

The cases stemmed from her alleged link to the drug trade in the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) when she was justice chief.

What exactly is De Lima being accused of?

Branch 204 is handling Criminal Case Number 17-165, one count of violation of Section 5 of the Dangerous Drugs Act, which penalizes the "sale, trading, administration, dispensation, delivery, distribution and transportation of illegal drugs."

According to the charge sheet, between November 2012 and March 2013, De Lima and former Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) officer-in-charge Rafael Ragos allegedly extorted money from Bilibid inmates.



According to the charge sheet, De Lima allegedly asked money from the inmates to fund her senatorial bid in 2016.

The unnamed inmates, according to state prosecutors, traded and trafficked drugs inside prison and were able to produce P5 million in November 2012, and another P5 million in December 2012.

This combined P10 million, with the addition of P100,000 collected from the “tara” of each of the high-profile drug inmates in NBP, was allegedly given to De Lima through Ragos and De Lima’s former aide, Ronnie Dayan. (READ: 3 women judges to hear De Lima drug cases)

The second count of drug trade, handled by Branch 206, was filed against De Lima; former BuCor chief Franklin Jesus Bucayu; Bucayu’s former staff, Wilfredo Elli; inmate Jaybee Sebastian; Dayan; De Lima’s former security aide, Joenel Sanchez; and a certain Jad de Vera.

The charge sheet accused De Lima and Bucayu of tolerating the “widespread drug trade” inside the maximum security compound. This was from May 2013 to May 2015, according to the charge sheet.

De Lima and Bucayu allegedly conspired with Elli, a former police; and Sanchez, who was a member of the Presidential Security Group (PSG) assigned to De Lima, to again extort money from unnamed inmates.

This time, the unnamed inmates were able to allegedly produce P70 million, which was given to De Lima through Sebastian, Sanchez, and De Vera. Part of the money was also allegedly given to Bucayu through Elli.

Bucayu and De Lima allegedly raided the maximum security compound after that, but spared Sebastian to allow him to have sole control of the drug trade.

Criminal Case Number 17-166, handled by Branch 205, is another count of drug trade against De Lima and De Vera.

De Lima and De Vera allegedly had influence over high-profile inmate Peter Co.



As in the other two cases, De Lima allegedly extorted money from Co, who was able to produce P30 million and 4 vehicles which were given to De Lima through De Vera. This allegedly happened in March 2016.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) dismissed the drug charges against inmates Herbert Colanggo, Engelbert Durano, Vicente Sy, Jojo Baligad, and Peter Co because “they will be utilized as prosecution witnesses.”

De Lima’s camp has filed motions to quash before the courts. Aside from the question of jurisdiction, which De Lima has also pleaded before the Court of Appeals (CA), the senator’s lawyers are arguing that the information does not constitute the crime of drug trade.

In their motion, they said that if the allegations are true, De Lima’s participation only falls under Section 26 of the Dangerous Drugs Act which is attempt or conspiracy.

De Lima's lawyer, Alexander Padilla, told Rappler that the charges of drug trade were intentional on the part of the DOJ to ensure that the charges will be non-bailable.

Violators of Section 5 of the Dangerous Drugs Act face 12 years to life imprisonment. Under criminal procedures, "no person charged with an offense punishable by life imprisonment shall be admitted to bail regardless of the stage of the criminal prosecution."

Padilla also questioned the filing of 3 separate complaints when they could have consolidated them into one to constitute drug trade.

“Umaasa siguro ang gobyerno na madismiss man ang dalawa ay baka ‘yung isa ay magkulong pa rin (Maybe the government was counting on the odds that if ever two charges are dismissed, she will still be jailed for the remaining one),” Padilla said. – Rappler.com</s>Vice President Maria Leonor “Leni” Robredo on Friday called on President Rodrigo Duterte to help the poor by focusing on the war against poverty and to lead the country in respecting human rights.

Speaking in a forum hosted by the UP School of Economics where she earned her Bachelor’s degree, Robredo said that the Philippines cannot be saved by “false prophets of change who claim that they are the people’s last hope.”

“Poverty is the real problem, but we are distracted by political agenda and ambition. Mr. President, we call you to task. In behalf of the Filipino people, whose daily struggles are escalating, we ask you to focus on the war that really matters: the war on poverty. Our people are hungry, jobless and poor,” the Vice President said.

“Please use your leadership to point the nation towards respect for rule of law, instead of disregard for it; to uphold the basic human rights enshrined in the institution, instead of encouraging its abuse. Be the leader you

 promised to be, and stop the lies that are distorting the truth in our society today,” she added.

Duterte has been soundly criticized for his bloody campaign against illegal drugs which led to the killing of at least 7,000 drug suspects by the police or unidentified armed men.

Robredo also decried the arrest of Sen. Leila de Lima, who like her is a member of the Liberal Party. She called on the Filipino people to defy what she described as brazen violation of human rights.

“The message [of de Lima’s arrest]was loud and clear: anyone who dares speak dissent is not safe. We are made to believe that those who protest and oppose are traitors to the nation and its people. The public is made to believe that the Philippines is in complete dysfunction, and that only the most bloody measures can cure our country of its ills. As we celebrate the anniversary of the EDSA Revolution, we are called upon to reject these lies,” Robredo said.

“The change that we so desire begins with us—in the way we live our lives, in the way we protect the rights and liberties that EDSA restored, in the way we continue the unfinished work of the revolution. Never forget that liberty rightfully belongs to our nation and its people. Never forget that together, we can make a stand for every Filipino who suffers injustice, for those who have been betrayed and neglected, and for those who continue to aspire for progress in our country,” she added.</s>Sen. Leila de Lima did not go quietly.

“If they think they can silence me, if they think I will no longer fight the fight I’ve been waging, especially for the truth, and the persecution of the Duterte regime, it is my honor to be jailed for what I am fighting for. Please just pray for me,” she told reporters as she was about to be handed over by Senate security to policemen who had waited all night with a warrant to arrest her on drug charges.

“These are all lies. The truth will come out and I will achieve justice. I am innocent,” she said.

“Fight, Leila!” relatives, friends and supporters shouted as De Lima made her way down from her fifth-floor office in the Senate building, and was put aboard a police coaster that would take her to Philippine National Police headquarters in Camp Crame, Quezon City, for booking.

It was just past 8 a.m. on Friday, two hours earlier than the handover time agreed between the Senate security and officers from the PNP Criminal Investigation and Detection Group, mother unit of the policemen who shot and killed execution-style a mayor detained on drug charges in a Leyte jail last Nov. 5.

De Lima, 57, was arrested Friday on drug trafficking charges she insisted were manufactured to silence her opposition to President Duterte’s brutal war on drugs, which has claimed the lives of more than 7,600 people in eight months.

Judge Juanita Guerrero of Muntinlupa City Regional Trial Court Branch 204, with whom De Lima, as justice secretary, tussled over a drug case in 2011, ordered the senator’s arrest on Thursday.

Also ordered arrested on the same warrant were De Lima’s former driver, bodyguard and alleged bagman, Ronnie Dayan, and former Bureau of Corrections chief Rafael Ragos.

Dayan was arrested in his home in Urbiztondo, Pangasinan province, late Thursday. Ragos had asked for deferment of his arrest.

An hour after De Lima’s voluntary surrender, her office released a video message to her supporters and the nation, which her staff said was filmed on Wednesday in anticipation of her arrest.

In the video, the senator insists she is innocent of the drug charges.

“I have never betrayed and I will never betray the trust of my country and the Filipino people,” De Lima says, accusing the Duterte administration of making “an example of me to intimidate, silence and destroy anyone who dares challenge them, to draw public attention away from the government’s abuses and failures, and to cover up their most murderous war on drugs.”

“If they think [that] by jailing me, I will turn my back on my principles, they are mistaken. Instead, they have encouraged me more to pursue truth and justice,” she says.

The message contains scathing remarks about Mr. Duterte, whom she calls “the mastermind of the filing of cases against me.”

“The filing of criminal cases against me is only the fulfillment of Mr. Duterte’s fixation for revenge against me, because of my investigation of the Davao Death Squad when I was the chairwoman of the Commission on Human Rights,” she says, referring to the 2009 probe of extrajudicial killings in Davao during Mr. Duterte’s term as mayor of the city.

She says Mr. Duterte acts on a whim, which she calls “impunity,” and traces to his time as mayor of Davao, when he discovered that “he could kill without accountability.”

“Truth is, even though he has killed over 1,000 in Davao and over 7,000 throughout the Philippines with his death squads and rogue police, he has yet to pay for it under the law,” she says.

But Mr. Duterte may soon pay for his “horrible crime against humanity,” she says, pointing to the emergence earlier this week of retired police officer Arturo Lascañas, a confessed hit man for the Davao liquidation team, who confirmed the existence of the hit squad and claimed the killings in the city were ordered by Mr. Duterte.

Lascañas disclosed his dealings with Mr. Duterte in a news conference in the Senate on Monday, confirming the testimony in a Senate inquiry last year by another confessed death squad hit man, Edgar Matobato, who said Mr. Duterte ordered the killings and shot dead a Department of Justice employee himself.

“With the revelation of Lascañas, there is no more doubt that our President is a murderer and a sociopathic serial killer. This is also the reason why we are experiencing all the madness in the government under this regime that is being led by the No. 1 criminal in the entire Philippines, if not in the whole world, none other than President Rodrigo Roa Duterte,” she says.

De Lima calls on Mr. Duterte to “stop the killings” and stop harassing her.

“Stop this madness,” she says.

De Lima will be detained in the PNP Custodial Center, where two former senators—Jinggoy Estrada and Bong Revilla Jr.—are detained while fighting plunder charges over the pork barrel scam.

Malacañang gave assurance that De Lima would be safe in detention.

“Sen. Leila de Lima has nothing to fear,” presidential spokesperson Ernesto Abella said.

He said De Lima would be “treated with fairness and accorded due process.” —WITH REPORTS FROM DJ YAP AND LEILA B. SALAVERRIA</s>THE incarceration of Senator Leila De Lima will not prevent her from performing her duty as a senator of the Philippines, according to Senate President Aquilino Pimentel 3rd.

Pimentel said that even if a senator is arrested and detained, he or she can continue performing his or her duties as a lawmaker.

Pimentel admitted that he was not able to talk to De lima before the court issued the warrant of arrest against her but senators during a previous caucus have agreed to help her in making sure that she is safe and secure, and that she can continue her work.

Senator Francis Escudero said that he will continue to work with De Lima in coming up with relevant measures as well as conducting committee hearings.

De Lima chairs the Senate committee on electoral reforms and people’s participation.

“I will continue to work with her as a senator, her incarceration notwithstanding, in crafting meaningful legislation and shedding light on the crimes and shortcomings of abusive and corrupt officials in government,” Escudero said.

“As a colleague, I am concerned for Sen. De Lima’s safety. We must remember she was a former Department of Justice Secretary and as such she may have stepped on many toes before,” Ejercito said. Jefferson Antiporda</s>Senator Leila de Lima was detained at the Philippine National Police (PNP) Custodial Center in Camp Crame on Friday afternoon, a few hours after she surrendered to authorities.

Shortly after yielding to lawmen, the senator was taken to Camp Crame, the headquarters of the Philippine National Police, where she was booked. De Lima was fingerprinted and her mug shot was taken. She also underwent a brief medical exam.

De Lima was taken to the Muntinlupa Regional Trial Court which issued a commitment order for her detention.

The senator returned to Camp Crame shortly after 1 p.m.

The lawmaker is the 26th detainee at the custodial center, where former senators Jose “Jinggoy” Estrada and Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr. are being held for graft and plunder charges in connection with the multi-billion peso pork barrel scam.

Unlike high-profile criminals arrested by the police in the past, the heavily-guarded De Lima was not handcuffed.

The PNP granted the request of the camp of De Lima to have two security details that will guard her 24/7.

Sen. Francis Pangilinan, who was among those who accompanied De Lima to Camp Crame, said the senator’s blood pressure was elevated when she was undergoing the booking process. FERNAN MARASIGAN</s>Sources from the Philippine National Police (PNP) released to the media the mugshots of Senator Leila de Lima taken after her arrest on Friday morning.

READ: After awaiting arrest at Senate, De Lima turns self in to CIDG

Members of the PNP’s Crime Laboratory and the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group took mugshots of De Lima, while wearing her trademark scarf, when she underwent booking procedures in Camp Crame.

After returning the arrest warrant to a Muntinlupa court, police brought De Lima to the PNP Custodial Center where former Senators Bong Revilla and Jinggoy Estrada are also detained. IDL</s>Senator Leila de Lima, during her time as chief of the Department of Justice, was involved in other cases with Muntinlupa Judge Juanita Guerrero

MANILA, Philippines – A Muntinlupa trial court judge ordered the arrest of Senator Leila de Lima on Thursday, February 23, over drug charges.

Judge Juanita Guerrero of the Muntinlupa Regional Trial Court Branch 204 issued the warrant of arrest against De Lima, her alleged bagman Ronnie Dayan, and former Bureau of Corrections chief Rafael Ragos.

The arrest warrant was issued less than a week after the Department of Justice (DOJ) filed charges against De Lima for allegedly receiving drug money from convicts back when she headed the DOJ.

This isn't the first time that De Lima has been involved in a case that was handled by Guerrero. She was the DOJ secretary in two previous cases handled by the lady judge.

Guerrero was the same judge in 2011 who dismissed charges against Richard Brodett and Jorge Joseph, two of the so-called "Alabang Boys" who were arrested in 2008 for allegedly possessing and selling 60 ecstasy tablets.

Guerrero questioned the handling of illegal drugs seized by officials of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) during a buy-bust operation.

The court pointed out that then-PDEA chief Dionisio Santiago held a press conference on the seized ecstasy tablets around the same time that PDEA's forensic chemist had said she was examining the drugs.

“The link in the custody of the drug evidence has been broken...The failure of the prosecution therefore to establish all the links in the chain of custody is fatal to the case at bar," it said.

“The court cannot merely rely on the presumption of regularity in the performance of official functions in view of the glaring blunder in the handling of the corpus delicti (body of the crime) of these cases," it added.

Then-justice secretary De Lima called the breach in the chain of custody of evidence a "fatal flaw," but said the DOJ would seek a reversal of the judge's decision.

De Lima said then of Guerrero, "It's our consensus that the judge erred in her decision. There is some gross misappreciation of procedure especially in terms of the supposed broken chain of custody."

In 2014, however, the Court of Appeals upheld the acquittal of Brodett and Joseph.

In 2014, Guerrero granted the plea for release of convicted road rage killer Rolito Go, who was sentenced to a 40-year jail term in 1993.

Go was sentenced for shooting De La Salle University student Eldon Maguan in a traffic altercation in July 1991.

He escaped from jail in 1993, but was rearrested in April 1996. Go appealed for executive clemency under former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, but was denied.

Guerrero granted Go's plea for his release in 2014, based on the argument that he had already fully served his sentence based on an adjusted computation of his prison term.

But the DOJ, then under De Lima, contested this, saying Go has yet to complete his term, based on the computation of the Bureau of Corrections.

"I have directed the OSG (Office of the Solicitor General) to promptly file a motion for reconsideration (MR), and in the meantime hindi pa dapat siya i-release," De Lima said. (I have directed the OSG to promptly file a motion for reconsideration, and in the meantime he should not yet be released.)</s>FRIDAY’S arrest of Sen. Leila de Lima is based on flimsy charges and a product of political harassment, Vice President Maria Leonor “Leni” Robredo declared Friday, as Catholic bishops called on the Duterte government

 to give the embattled lawmaker a fair shake.

Robredo, titular head of the Liberal Party that fielded de Lima in the May 2016 senatorial race, issued the statement moments after the former Justice secretary surrendered to authorities as a result of the warrant of arrest issued against her by the Muntinlupa Regional Trial Court over drug trafficking chargers.

“The arrest of Senator Leila de Lima is the latest move in a persistent campaign of political harassment being waged against a duly elected member of Congress. These efforts to smear Senator de Lima are a strong indication that the charges against her arise from a political agenda and are not the result of an independent, unbiased legal process,” Robredo said in a statement.

Robredo recalled that efforts to harass de Lima began when the senator, as chairman of the Senate Committee on Justice, launched an investigation into extrajudicial killings under the Duterte administration.

“With contradicting testimonies from criminals as basis of the case, they circumvented due process to fast-track the issuance of the arrest warrant. Our history as a nation is marred by instances where government officials use the processes of criminal justice to cow, silence, and eliminate critics. We cannot, and we must not, stand by and let this happen again,” Robredo said.

“We exhort the people to follow and scrutinize this case religiously,” Robredo added.

 Malacañang denied claims de Lima was being subjected to political persecution.

In a chance interview, Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea insisted de Lima’s arrest was not politically motivated as a criminal case had been filed against her.

Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador Panelo likewise said de Lima is not a political prisoner because there was basis for her arrest.

“She is not a political prisoner. She will become a detainee pursuant to a warrant of arrest arising from a criminal charge against her,” Panelo said.

De Lima’s situation, he pointed out, was not a culmination of a political vendetta, unlike what happened to former president and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo who was detained by the Aquino government in 2011.

“What they did to Arroyo, that was political vendetta because no case was filed against her. That is the real political vendetta,” he said.

The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) on Friday appealed to the Duterte government to give de Lima due process.

“Let all who have been charged be accorded their fair day in the court of laws,” said CBCP President and Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Socrates Villegas in a pastoral letter.

“As we deplore what is wrong, let us always allow the reign of charity to prevail in imitation of Christ in whose heart was a special love for those whom all else rejected. Mercy without justice is weakness. Justice without love is tyranny,” Villegas added.

“It is unchristian to find secret pleasure in the sufferings of others. May we recognize in ourselves the awful power of sin and our need for God’s help! We need the Lord even more now!” Villegas said. “I pray for the healing of our land and for the reign of harmony.”

De Lima was among the thousands who showed up at a prayer rally called by the Church at Rizal Park last February 18 to protests summary killings and the death penalty bill.

Some of de Lima’s Senate colleagues branded as baseless and illegal the lawmaker’s arrest, saying it was the beginning of the slow death of democracy and the rule of law in the country.

“It is condemnable that the administration railroads rules and processes for political vendetta. At the very least, the administration must show good faith and guarantee Senator de Lima’s safety and security,” said Sen. Paolo Benigno Aquino 4th.

Senator Risa Hontiveros said that the arrest of de Lima could set a dangerous precedent. “By stopping at nothing to persecute Senator Leila, the state sends a chilling message to all—political dissent under this administration will not be tolerated. All those who will oppose will be destroyed,” she said.

Senator Antonio Trillanes 4th defended de Lima against what he described was “plunderer and murderer” President.

“The primary objective of the illegal arrest of Sen. De Lima is to send a chilling message to the political opposition and critics,” said Trillanes.</s>In an unusual break from their word war, Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II agrees with Senator Leila de Lima's views at a Senate inquiry

Senator Leila de Lima might just be counting down the days until her supposed impending arrest but Senator Panfilo Lacson made a light moment out of it at a Senate inquiry days after drug charges were filed against the former justice chief.

During the 2nd hearing into the murder of South Korean businessman Jee Ick Joo, Lacson informed De Lima, who was still questioning the resource person, that he would have to suspend the hearing soon to attend another committee hearing.

“But you can consume the remaining time because you have very good points that you’re pursuing," he said, before ribbing De Lima. "Bilin ko lang (My only advice is), don’t get jailed. We’ll miss you.”

De Lima replied with a hearty laugh and said, “Thank you.”

Like De Lima, Lacson knows what it's like to be the nemesis of a sitting president. Lacson exposed alleged government corruption during the administration of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and even implicated her husband, Mike Arroyo, in alleged anomalous government deals.

During the Arroyo administration, Lacson faced arrest for the double murder of PR man Bubby Dacer and his driver, Emmanuel Corbito. He fled the country to escape political persecution, and only returned when Benigno Aquino III won the presidency. The charges against him were eventually dismissed. (READ: SC dismisses case against Lacson with finality)

Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II, a known De Lima critic, was also present in the hearing.

Lacson introduced him as “the best friend” of the lady senator.

In an unusual break from his criticisms, Aguirre openly agreed to at least two views and statements of De Lima at the hearing.

First, Aguirre said he agreed with De Lima that the “ransom” was only an "afterthought."

Lacson said in jest: "That for once?"

To which Aguirre replied, “Yes. I agree with Senator Leila de Lima that talagang parang (it's really like) kidnapping here is only an afterthought.”

Lacson also teased Aguirre the second time he agreed with the senator – this time on the legality of the President’s authority to appoint relieved officials.

“That’s twice already,” Lacson said with a smile.

Lacson was not always friendly with De Lima. When he was still in hiding in 2011, Lacson spoke against then Justice Secretary De Lima for her "ill-advised opinion" ordering his manhunt even after the Court of Appeals had already nullified the warrant for his arrest.

In August 2012, however, Lacson initiated a peace offering to De Lima – a birthday greeting via SMS. He later said he understood De Lima's previous actions as just part of her job.

Will De Lima ever have the same conclusion regarding Aguirre? – Rappler.com
Philippine vice president Leni Robredo defends her fellow Liberal party-mate Leila de Lima who was arrested for alleged drug trafficking. Robredo calls de Lima's arrest political harassment.