De Lima denies alleged notarization defect in her petition

MANILA, Philippines — Detained Sen. Leila De Lima on Tuesday clarified that there is no defect in the notarization of her petition to the Supreme Court questioning the Regional Trial Court's jurisdiction over drug charges against her.

In a statement, De Lima said the Office of the Solicitor General’s claim that she falsified notarization in her affidavit is a false allegation. She added that it has no factual basis.

De Lima made the clarification after Solicitor General Jose Calida last week questioned the notary’s authority on De Lima’s documents.

He said commissioned notary public Maria Cecile Tresvalles-Cabalo, who is De Lima’s sorority sister, can only perform notarial services within Quezon City while the senator was also taken to the Muntinlupa Regional Trial Court last February 24 for the return of her arrest warrant.

Calida argued that the only time De Lima could have personally appeared and sworn before Tresvalles-Cabalo was when she was at Camp Crame since this was the only location that was within Tresvalles-Cabalo’s notarial commission.

“In light of all these, there can be no other conclusion than that De Lima falsified her jurats. The falsity of the subject jurats renders De Lima’s Petition a mere scrap of paper, which produces no legal effect. The Supreme Court ought to dismiss De Lima’s Petition as it is bereft of any legal consequence,” Calida said in a statement.

De Lima however said that the notary public met with her at Camp Crame for the former to notarize the petition that she signed. She added that contrary to the OSG's claim, the notary public was, in fact, in Camp Crame, when the senator was brought there.

This was reiterated by former Solicitor General Florin Hilbay after SC Justice Presbiterio Velasco Jr. asked him regarding the authenticity of the jurat or the statement of an affidavit during his interpellation at the oral arguments on De Lima's petitions.

Hilbay said Tresvalles-Cabalo herself submitted an affidavit explaining her side for the court’s analysis.

Velasco asked why the notary public was not listed as De Lima's visitor.

He cited that Calida said De Lima arrived at the Philippine National Police Police Custodial Center around 8:41 a.m. but Tresvalles-Cabalo in her statement said she met with the senator at the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group around 9 a.m. to notarize the petition as requested.

“According to the lawyers (De Lima and Tresvalles-Cabalo) here they met at the CIDG before she was brought to the custodial unit where she is currently at and Atty. Tresvalles-Cabalo met her there at the CIDG but refused entry at the custodial unit,” Hilbay replied to Velasco.

“But all the relevant transaction happened at the CIDG,” he added.

For her part, De Lima slammed Calida for his arguments.

She said that by “repeatedly  attempting to resort to the basest of technicalities, and in lieu of substantial arguments against the merits of her SC petition, the OSG is scraping the bottom of the barrel for whatever argument is left to support her continued illegal detention.”

 The senator added that the Calida’s “attack is obviously borne out of desperation.”