The arrest of de Lima

Joe Pallugna

FOR a very long time people are thinking if the eventual criminal prosecution of Sen. Leila de Lima would happen.

Threats and strong statements have been issued by Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II of the justice department about the complicity of de Lima with known drug lords and criminal syndicates. The list seems to be long. The evidence appears to be strong. And the prosecutors were busy investigating and connecting the dots to complete The Matrix.

Finally, last week, criminal charges were filed in court involving de Lima and her cohorts. Jail administrators, a top known drug lord, a former lover, some government officials form part of the accused.

And will Sen. de Lima really be arrested?

Her arrest comes not only a certainty but as a matter of procedure. The issuance of the warrants of arrest for all the accused is ordinary in criminal cases as the arrest of the accused or their surrender are the only means to put the accused under the criminal jurisdiction of the court.

However, while evading the warrant of arrest, de Lima can file in court, through her lawyers, a motion for judicial re-determination of probable cause which can result to dismissal by the judge of the criminal charges if the judge determines that there is no probable cause for the earlier issuance of the warrant of arrest.

Although this is a rare chance to happen for the judge to recall his issued warrant of arrest, the Court of Appeals in a petition for certiorari can reverse the Regional Trial Court and cancel the warrant of arrest and dismiss the criminal information.

This happend in the case of Sen. Panfilo Lacson when he came back then from Hongkong where he was supposed to have been in hiding while his appeal to the CA remained pending, as his arrest warrants were cancelled by the CA. This also happend in the case of Gringo Honasan.

De Lima can surely follow the steps of Lacson and Honasan. But by the pride and personality of de Lima, a Lacson way is not an option. She will go the way of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and submit to an arrest and stay in jail.

And if Arroyo has found a symbol in a neck-brace to appear sickly and pitiful and seek medical treatment as a possible way out of jail and into a hospital arrest, I doubt if de Lima can invent a new reason to get out of jail.

De Lima seems to be sexually active and not sick. The inclusion of a lover into the list of accused presupposes not only a sexually active woman but an agressive, healthy person as well.

With hundreds of millions of pesos alleged to have been received by her from the drugs operations over several years, her possibility of flight is high and even a motion for bail is likely to be denied.

Add to her situation the harsh and insulting words she spoke of President Rodrigo Duterte, and her close association to the openly critical Sen. Antonio Trillanes, the possibility of presidential leniency upon de Lima is virtually nil.

De Lima’s arrest will not surprise the millions of Filipinos. Her loud claim of political harassment is also incredible and unbelievable to many.

Only a full trial wherein the people will hear and see the evidence against de Lima in court will we be able to finally judge if de Lima is indeed guilty or just a victim of pure politics.

But if I were to be asked, I would want de Lima arrested and prosecuted. For it is only in the conviction of de Lima that we put a closure to one of the horrible segments of our country’s history. If she were really innocent, and her acquittal will result, her trial will also show how the powers of government can be manipulated to unjustly malign any person’s name and reputation and liberty.

In the end, putting into jail current and former senators, past presidents and former police and army generals will hopefully put an example, and a clear warning, to our younger generations that corruption and criminality will come to a shameful and bitter end.

Jailtime is a certainty. Whether in the short period in the future or a longer time, still, crime has its punishment. And Sen. de Lima is no exception.

E-mail: ajpallugna@gmail.com