‘Ragos, Kerwin recantations may be politically motivated’
PROSECUTOR-GENERAL Benedicto Malcontento said they are looking into the possibility that the recent recantations of two witnesses in the drug cases filed against Senator Leila de Lima could be politically motivated.
In an interview on CNN’S The Source, Malcontento also expressed belief that the recantations of former Bureau of Corrections officer-in-charge Rafael Ragos and confessed drug lord Kerwin Espinosa are somehow connected, considering that these happened few days before the elections where De Lima is running for another term as a senator.
“That is a very good question because one after the other, and by Monday we have an election, so we can reasonably presume that there is a connection here. But insofar as politics is concerned, that is our assessment. But for the cases concerned, the prosecution is still firm that insofar as the first case we are not solely relying on the testimony of Ragos,” Malcontento explained.
He noted that Ragos is not a star witness in the case where he testified against De Lima.
Asked if Ragos’s and Espinosa’s recantations were politically motivated, Malcontento answered, “We are looking at that as well.”
The prosecutor-general stressed that Ragos’s retraction has no effect on the case unless it is brought before the court and forms part of the record of the case.
If this happens, Malcontento noted that the prosecution would have to cross-examine Ragos on his second affidavit.
“The court has to weigh between the two affidavits—the first affidavit wherein it was followed by a series of testimonies coming from Ragos, and this latest affidavit. It is the duty of the court now to weigh what to believe or not to believe at all,” Malcontento stressed.
In some decided cases, he said the courts gave weight to the initial affidavits instead of the recantation.
Malcontento also noted that De Lima’s demurrer to evidence seeking the dismissal of the drug case filed against her and bodyguard Ronnie Dayan has been denied by the Regional Trial Court in Muntinlupa.
Their petition to post bail was also denied by the trial court.
Ragos is one of the prosecution witnesses who testified before the court against De Lima and Dayan.
Ragos executed an affidavit on September 5, 2016, claiming that in November 2012, as Bucor OIC he and aide Jovencio Ablen delivered a black bag containing P5 million to Dayan and De Lima at the latter’s residence.
Another delivery of money in a plastic bag was made in December 2012 to De Lima and Dayan. In 2016, Ragos testified at the House Committee on Justice’s hearing on the New Bilibid Prisons drug trade and reiterated his previous affidavits.
He also testified then that the kickbacks came from Peter Co and other drug lords to support De Lima’s senatorial bid in 2013.
On June 7, 17, 28 and July 12, 2019, Ragos also testified before the Regional Trial Court of Muntinlupa where he maintained his allegations against the senator.
De Lima is facing two criminal cases before the Muntinlupa RTC for her alleged involvement in the illegal drug trade inside NBP during her term as justice secretary.
“The motion to dismiss filed by the camp of Sen. De Lima was already denied by the court. Meaning, as it stands now the prosecution’s evidence is strong. So the sole recantation on the part of Ragos will not automatically result to an acquittal. The court may not even believe this latest affidavit,” Malcontento said.
Meanwhile, Malcontento disclosed that the Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption (VACC) plans to file criminal charges against Ragos for lying under oath during the congressional hearings and for giving false testimonies before the court.
“There are private complainants here and we heard that they would be filing charges. Insofar as the DOJ is concerned we will just wait if these charges are filed or any entity would file against them and we would just have to decide accordingly,” Malcontento said.
Ragos’ accusation that former justice officials coerced and threatened him to execute an affidavit implicating De Lima would be referred to the Office of the Ombudsman once the DOJ gets a copy of Ragos’s affidavit.