De Lima asks court to postpone arraignment

MANILA, Philippines — Detained Senator Leila De Lima has asked a local court in Muntinlupa to reconsider its warrant of arrest and postpone her arraignment based on the "glaringly trumped-up" drug charges against her.

De Lima, in her filed 10-page Motion for Reconsideration ad cautelam, asked the Muntinlupa Regional Trial Court Branch 206 to "hold in abeyance the scheduled arraignment" on December 8.

On November 16, the branch issued an arrest warrant against De Lima and her co-accused former Bureau of Corrections Director Franklin Bucayu, inmate Jaybee Sebastian, Wilfredo Elli, a certain Jose Dera, and De Lima's former aides and alleged bagmen, Joenel Sanchez and Ronnie Dayan.

She cited her pending case at the Supreme Court challenging the legality of her earlier arrest warrant that emanated from the sala of Muntinlupa Regional Trial Court Branch 204.

"Such an act would be tantamount to this Court pre-empting the Supreme Court, and arrogating unto herself the authority to have a final say on the jurisprudential effect of the Supreme Court's decision," the motion further reads.

De Lima asked the local court to review the "fatal deficiency" of the information or charge sheet filed by the Department of Justice.

“The Information, Complaint-Affidavit, and Attached Affidavits, and [transcript of stenographic notes], all miserably fail to provide the existence of drugs that was allegedly attempted to be sold or was actually sold by the accused. Hence, the corpus delicti in the instant case is lacking – a matter that is readily admitted by the DOJ Panel in its Comment,” she added.

De Lima stressed that the filed information failed to identify the seller of drugs, identity of the buyer, kind and quantity of drugs sold or traded, consideration and the delivery of the illegal drugs, and the actual payment.

De Lima was initially charged with drug trading in three salas at the Muntinlupa RTC.

The DOJ filed separate motions to admit amended Information to change the offense to conspiracy to trade drugs.

“Without these elements, alleged in the Information, the actual sale or trade of dangerous drugs can never be established,” she noted.

“It is impossible for the Honorable Court to determine the existence of probable cause for the issuance of a warrant of arrest since the Information is deficient of any of the essential elements charged,” she said.

De Lima maintained that the charges against her are "bogus" and "fabricated."

On October 10, the Supreme Court voted 9-6 to junk De Lima's petition seeking to nullify her arrest.

But De Lima's team, led by former Solicitor General Florin Hilbay, filed a motion for reconsideration on November 3.

READ: Citing differing SC opinions, De Lima asks for reconsideration