A Muntinlupa court has granted state prosecutors’ motion to withdraw their bid seeking the reversal of the acquittal of Mamamayang Liberal party-list Rep. Leila de Lima in one of her drug cases-putting an end to the controversial legal battle that drew the ire of legal experts and Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla himself.
In an order issued on Sept. 30, Presiding Judge Abraham Joseph Alcantara of the Muntinlupa City Regional Trial Court Branch 204 granted the prosecution’s motion to withdraw its July 14 filing and declared the case ‘closed and terminated.’
‘To reiterate and emphasize, every acquittal becomes final immediately upon promulgation and cannot be recalled for correction or amendment,’ Alcantara said.
Citing the 2017 case of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo v. People (G.R. No. 220598), the court emphasized that granting the state’s motion for reconsideration would violate the constitutional prohibition against double jeopardy, since it would effectively reopen the prosecution and subject the accused to a second jeopardy despite their acquittal.
‘Considering that this case already involves an acquittal, the Court shall exercise sound discretion and allow the withdrawal of the prosecution’s motion for reconsideration,’ it added.
The case was the second of three drug charges from which De Lima has been cleared.
It was remanded to the trial court after the Court of Appeals, on April 30, ordered the RTC to submit a revised ruling that would ‘clearly and distinctly state the facts and legal basis’ for acquitting De Lima and her co-accused Ronnie Dayan of conspiracy to commit drug trading.
After the RTC issued a lengthy revised decision, a panel of prosecutors sought to revive the case by filing a motion for reconsideration on July 14.
Remulla and Prosecutor General Richard Fadullon, however, later stepped in and ordered the withdrawal of the motion.
‘It should not have been filed in the first place,’ Fadullon told reporters in July.