Palace won’t meddle in SC ruling on De Lima

- Malacañang declined Tuesday to comment on Supreme Court’s (SC) decision to junk detained Senator Leila de Lima’s motion to recall her arrest warrant issued by a Muntinlupa City court.

Presidential Spokesperson Ernesto Abella said the Palace would not meddle in the high court’s internal affairs, particularly the handling of cases filed against De Lima.

Abella said the executive department would let the SC magistrates to act on the charges against De Lima, who has been accused of allowing the drug proliferation inside the national penitentiary when she was the Justice Secretary.

“That is within the Supreme Court’s purview. We leave it to them to address that,” Abella said in a press conference.

The presidential spokesperson’s statement came after the SC, in a 9-6 vote, uphold the jurisdiction of Muntinlupa Regional Trial Court over the senator’s drug cases.

De Lima is currently detained at the Philippine National Police Custodial Center in Camp Crame, Quezon City for her alleged involvement in rampant narcotics trade inside the New Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa City.

De Lima was ordered arrested on February 24 for allegedly receiving money from illicit drug transactions inside the state penitentiary while she was the Justice Secretary from 2010 to 2015. She allegedly used the proceeds from the drug transactions to her 2016 senatorial bid.

The filing of drugrelated cases against De Lima stemmed from Presi-

dent Rodrigo Duterte’s accusation that De Lima was the “highest government official” who allowed the narcotics sale inside the New Bilibid Prison.

The senator has since denied the allegations and insisted that she was a victim of the current administration’s so-called “political persecution.”

Malacañang, however, has repeatedly denied that De Lima was detained because of political persecution, explaining that she was put to jail because of her alleged drug involvement. SunStar Philippines