Mollifying public criticism: Councilor-lawyer will not handle drug cases again

TAGBILARAN CITY, Philippines — The Boholano community has hailed the decision of a highly popular lawyer here who has decided not to handle cases related to illegal drugs.

“Starting this week and on the days onward, I will no longer handle cases related to illegal drugs,” said Councilor Alexander “Aleckoy” Lim, who is a lawyer, in a public pronouncement made over radio station DyRD yesterday.

Lim had assured the public he would now stop representing individuals who are facing illegal drug charges, a decision which was widely welcomed by the Boholanos over the airlane.

The decision came in the heels of the death of lawyer Noel Archival who on Tuesday, was attacked by still unidentified assailants while he was travelling back to Cebu City after attending a court hearing in Dumaguete City. Archival, known by his peers as a “lawyer of  last resort,” had been handling several high-profile drug-related cases until the day he was murdered.

The 61-year-old Lim has been pilloried by the public since most suspected drug pushers in Bohol were acquitted as a result of the legal services he extended to them in the past.

The public criticism against Lim became more intense after the arrest of suspected druglord, Sherwin Bautista, who on Valentine’s Day, together with his live-in partner, was nabbed at his residence in Tiptip, Tagbilaran City by the provincial police’s Criminal Investigation and Detection Team (CIDT) for alleged possession of loose firearms and illegal drugs worth at least P1.3 million.

When the news on Bautista’s arrest on Friday broke out, a series of radio commentaries here started hinting that the drug suspect would eventually be released once lawyer Lim enters into the case.

Lim admitted over DyRD that Bautista, after the arrest, had sought for his legal services, but he turned down his former client’s request for defense.

Bautista was first arrested in September 2011 during a drug buy-bust in Loon town which was conducted by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) based in Bohol. Bautista, with Lim acting as his counsel the, was eventually acquitted in December 2012 by a Regional Trial Court here, a case outcome that had dismayed law enforcers in the province.

“I understand that I have been criticized due to my past handling of drug-related cases, but I just want to clarify that I am just doing my job as a lawyer,” said Lim, who was elected city councilor in the May 2013 elections.

Lim said there is no law in the country that prohibits any lawyer to accept cases related to illegal drugs, adding that he felt he has been singled out by his critics despite the fact that “there are other lawyers in Bohol, other than me, who are also handling drug cases.”

As his stance on drug cases has changed, Lim urged police authorities to build an “air-tight case” against drug personalities and ensure that all their raids and buy-bust operations are conducted according to the rule of law.

Earlier, National Bureau of Investigation Director Virgilio Mendez had told provincial and local officials that the problem on illegal drugs in Bohol was already “very alarming”.

Also, Bohol Provincial Police Director, Sr. Supt. Dennis Palo Agustin, had earlier warned Boholanos that the drug menace here could go worse without the public’s cooperation on “intelligence reporting”. (FREEMAN)