De Lima camp to question arrest order before Supreme Court

MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Leila De Lima plans to question the issuance of warrant for her arrest before the Supreme Court, one of her lawyers said Friday.

 

De Lima lawyer Bonifacio Tacardon said that they will bring the matter before the Supreme Court but added that he does not know the details of the petition that the legal team plans to file.

 

"They are raising grave abuse of discretion," he said.

 

De Lima has questioned the filing of charges against her at a Muntinlupa court, saying her alleged offenses should have been forwarded to the Office of the Ombudsman and that the Sandiganbayan ant-graft court should hear the cases against her.

 

The Liberal Party has also pointed out that the warrant for her arrest was issued soon after Judge Juanita Guerrero returned from a trip abroad, implying that the warrant was issued before she could study the complaint against De Lima. De Lima has filed a motion to quash the complaint but the hearing for that, originally scheduled for Friday morning, has been postponed at the prosecution's request.

 

Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II has said the Muntinlupa RTC is the proper court to hear the cases against De Lima because the drug-related charges are not "cognizable" by the Sandiganbayan. He has also denied that the cases against De Lima were rushed. 

 

De Lima surrendered to the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group when they served the arrest warrant against her at the Senate early Friday.

 

She was then brought to the Philippine National Police headquarters in Camp Crame for booking before being presented before the Muntinlupa Regional Trial Court. She will be detained at the Philippine National Police Custodial Center in Camp Crame in Quezon City.

 

Tacardon said that they will file the petition as soon as it is completed.

 

"Hindi naman madali gawin yung petition na yun," He added.