Prosecution opposes De Lima bid for provisional liberty, says motion filed late
MANILA, Philippines — State prosecutors opposed Sen. Leila De Lima’s move to be allowed to post bail, saying the senator’s belated filing of the motion belies her argument that evidence against her is weak.
A panel of 13 prosecutors asked the Muntinlupa Regional Trial Court Branch 205 to junk De Lima’s Motion for Bail due to lack of merit. They also said that the prosecution had presented to the court evidence showing the senator’s “evident guilt or great presumption of guilt.”
Last June, the senator sought the court’s nod to post bail saying that the evidence against her is not strong and that she is not a flight risk. This was the first time she moved for provisional liberty since she was detained in February 2017.
The prosecution raised this in their Opposition filed last week, pointing out that it took De Lima three years since the case was brought to court to raise the issue.
“To convert the main trial on the merits into a summary bail hearing will only tend to delay the proceedings and will not even serve its purpose of granting her provisional liberty, considering that accused De Lima likewise faces two other drug cases that are non-bailable,” their Opposition read.
The prosecutors also questioned why De Lima only moved for bail in just one case, while she faces two other drug-related charges. “What is their objective? Is it really to seek the provisional liberty of the accused?”
They also accused the senator of “taking advantage of the pandemic well knowing that the Prosecution’s locomotion will be limited should the court direct them to present its evidence for purposes of bail hearing.”
“To convert the almost concluding trial on the merits to a summary bail hearing would only be impractical and would obviously delay the proceedings,” they added.
De Lima: Motion for bail may be filed at any stage
De Lima’s lawyer said that the prosecution’s opposition anchored on her belated filing is merely a “diversionary tactic” to evade the issues she raised. She asserted that there is no deadline or timeline in exercising the right to post bail, as this can be filed at any stage of the proceedings.
They also countered the prosecution’s comment that jolding a summary bail hearing would delay the trial since, the “Honorable Court can easily adopt the earlier proceedings to be the basis for the resolution of the Motion for Bail.”
“This scenario is in fact more beneficial and favorable to the Prosecution as the basis for resolving the motion for bail will not only be a selected testimonies or pieces of evidence but the entire evidence presented in the course of the full blown trial,” their Reply read.
The senator’s lawyer also said that the prosecution failed to rebut their argument that there is no proof that De Lima and her co-accused Jad Dera "conspired and confederated" to admit the charges against them.
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