SC junks Peter Lim’s plea vs DOJ reinvestigation

MANILA, Philippines — The Supreme Court (SC) has junked the petition of fugitive businessman Peter Lim seeking to stop the earlier reinvestigation of the Department of Justice (DOJ) on the drug charges against him that were previously dismissed. 

In a notice of resolution received by the DOJ yesterday, the SC’s Third Division dismissed for lack of merit the petition filed by Lim last June before he was indicted by the DOJ and went into hiding.

The SC cited Lim’s failure to present evidence showing that the DOJ committed grave abuse of discretion when it reinvestigated the case.

The questioned reinvestigation of the DOJ has ended and Lim was indicted for a drug trading conspiracy case before the Makati regional trial court.

The Makati City RTC Branch 65 ordered his arrest last Aug. 14 when Philippine National Police and National Bureau of Investigation operatives started a manhunt for the controversial businessman.

The DOJ has also offered a P500,000 reward for any information that would lead to his arrest.

In his petition, Lim asked the High Court to nullify the order issued by resigned DOJ secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II last March that effectively voided the resolution of the first panel in December last year that dismissed the charges for lack of probable cause and ordered another preliminary investigation by a new panel of prosecutors.