MANILA, Philippines – Former senator Leila de Lima said she is “greatly dismayed” by the move of Office of the Solicitor General to question her latest acquittal in one of her drug-related cases.

“I am, of course, greatly dismayed by the OSG’s move in elevating to the CA the judgment of my acquittal in one of my three trumped-up drug cases,” De Lima said in a statement on Wednesday, September 13. “What is exceptional here is the persistence of my persecutors to perpetuate this travesty of justice by keeping me incarcerated.”

De Lima, who is also a lawyer and former justice secretary, reiterated that an acquittal is final.

“An acquittal is an acquittal, a final and conclusive disposition of the merits of the case which, under firmly settled case law, is no longer appealable, save for very exceptional grounds or circumstances, none of which can be legitimately invoked to question the 12 May 2023 Decision of the RTC-Muntinlupa, [Branch] 205 exonerating me and my co-accused,” the detained former lawmaker said.

On September 11, Solicitor General Menardo Guevarra confirmed that they filed a petition for certiorari before the Court of Appeals. Certiorari is a legal remedy used to seek a review of a lower court’s decision, and in this context, Guevarra wants the CA to review Muntinlupa City Regional Trial Court Branch 204’s decision clearing De Lima of a drug charge.

Guevarra filed the petition almost four months after the Muntinlupa court acquitted De Lima and former aide Ronnie Dayan of one of their drug charges. This means De Lima has only one more charge pending before Branch 206 – after a series of inhibitions and re-raffles. Another Muntinlupa court already cleared her in one of the three charges in 2021.

Prior to the OSG, the prosecution tried to challenge De Lima’s acquittal by filing a motion for reconsideration against the Muntinlupa court’s decision. However, the court affirmed its decision and denied the prosecution’s motion.

In denying the prosecution’s challenge, Judge Abraham Joseph Alcantara ruled that every acquittal becomes final once it was promulgated and could not be recalled for amendment. He added that the prosecution cannot seek a review on De Lima’s acquittal without placing her in double jeopardy, noting the safeguards provided by the Constitution with regards to double jeopardy. – Rappler.com