Another judge inhibits from De Lima’s last drug case

MANILA (UPDATE) — Another Muntinlupa judge has inhibited himself from the remaining drug case of detained former Senator Leila de Lima.

State prosecutors on Wednesday sought the inhibition of Judge Abraham Joseph Alcantara, arguing that his previous decision to acquit De Lima in one of her other drug cases supposedly casts doubt on his impartiality.

• Prosecutors seek inhibition of new judge handling De Lima’s last drug case

Alcantara, presiding judge of Muntinlupa Regional Trial Court Branch 204, granted the prosecutors' motion on Thursday.

He said he was voluntarily desisting from the case "not because the prosecution's assertion is true but to put to rest any questions against his credibility, integrity, and fairness."

De Lima’s remaining drug case was raffled to Alcantara after the former handling judge, Romeo Buenaventura of Muntinlupa RTC Branch 256, inhibited from the case.

• Muntinlupa judge inhibits from De Lima’s drug case

Buenaventura had denied the former lawmaker’s bail petition on the ground that the evidence is strong.

• Muntinlupa court denies Leila de Lima's bail petition

It was De Lima’s 3 co-accused, Dayan, Joenel Sanchez and former BuCor chief Franklin Bucayu who asked Buenaventura to inhibit from the case after learning that his brother had assisted Dayan in executing an affidavit prior to a House hearing in 2016, which Dayan later recanted.

Dayan had claimed the late Rep. Reynaldo Umali, then-chair of the House Committee on Justice, coerced him to testify against De Lima.

It turned out Atty. Emmanuel Buenaventura, the judge’s brother, had acted as legal adviser to Umali.

• De Lima's 3 co-accused ask judge to inhibit self from their cases

Judge Buenaventura denied knowledge of his brother’s professional undertakings but recused from the case.

Following Alcantara's inhibition, the case will be re-raffled for a second time this year.

De Lima's lawyer Boni Tacardon said Friday's hearing on his client's case "is already cancelled."

CALLS TO FREE DE LIMA

Meanwhile, five European Union parliamentarians wrote to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin "Boying" Remulla to call for De Lima's reelase, following the denial of her bail petition.

#Philippines: @AttyLeiladeLima was one of the strongest critics of the "war on drugs".

She was put in prison based on fabricated charges. 2 out of 3 have been dropped, but in June, she was refused bail.

We wrote to @bongbongmarcos & @BoyingRemulla31 to demand her release. pic.twitter.com/WGqm6vuweA

— Hannah Neumann 💙 (@HNeumannMEP) July 4, 2023

EU parliamentarians led by Hannah Neumann, vice chair of the Subcommittee on Human Rights and a member of the The Greens/European Free Alliance political party, urged Marcos, Jr. and Remulla to “conclude permanently Ms. de Lima’s case, provide adequate compensation and reparations, and thoroughly investigate the circumstances that led to this unjust situation in the first place,” echoing calls recently made by a group of United Nations experts.

Neumann was joined by 4 other EU parliamentarians:

-Raphaël Glucksmann, vice-chair of the Subcommittee on Human Rights, Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats

-Heidi Hautala, vice-president of the European Parliament, Rapporteur on the New GSP Regulation, The Greens/European Free Alliance

-Miguel Urbán Crespo, coordinator of the Subcommittee on Human Rights, The Left - GUE/NGL

-Isabel Wiseler-Lima, coordinator of the Subcommittee on Human Rights, European People’s Party

The EU parliamentarians expressed concern over the recent denial of De Lima’s bail plea, her continued detention under police custody for more than 6 years, and “unnecessary delays” in her trial including the failure of prosecution witnesses to appear and the changing composition of the judges overseeing her case.

“UN experts and eminent human rights organizations have confirmed that Ms. de Lima’s detention is not only arbitrary and politically motivated, but a deliberate violation of international human rights standards,” the June 29 letter said.

“In 2018, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention reached the conclusion that the detention of de Lima was arbitrary due to the absence of a legal basis and the disregard for international norms regarding the right to a fair trial,” it added.

Remulla’s response, however, was quick and brief.

“Well, outright I cannot interfere with the courts. It’s my answer to that,” he told the media at the Department of Justice on Thursday.

De Lima has been detained since February 2017 on drug charges. Two of the 3 drug charges have been dismissed.

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GSP+

In the same letter, the EU parliamentarians raised the Philippine government’s commitment to international standards and the privilege the EU is giving to Philippine exporters.

“[W]e must bring to your attention that the recent developments in her case appears to contradict your commitment to the International Convenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which explicitly emphasizes that pre-trial detention, should not be the general rule,” they said.

“We wish to highlight that this treaty is an essential part of the GSP+ arrangement,” they added, referring to the tariff-free privilege granted by the European Union to some 6,000 Philippine products exported to the European Union under the Generalised Scheme of Preferences Plus (GSP+).

In exchange for the zero import duties, the Philippines undertakes to implement 27 international conventions on human rights, labor rights, the environment and good governance.

The Philippines is among the beneficiary countries under the program, along with Bolivia, Cape Verde, Krygyztan, Mongolia, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

The GSP+ agreement is set to expire in December this year.

On Wednesday, the Philippine Department of Trade and Industry announced the European Commission, the EU Parliament’s legislative arm, is seeking a 4-year extension of the GSP+ scheme.

The EU Parliament will still have to approve the proposal.

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