The Muntinlupa City Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 204 has officially closed the case of former Senator and now Mamamayang Liberal (ML) Party-list Rep. Leila de Lima.
This came after the court accepted the decision of the prosecution panel to file a motion for withdrawal and drop its earlier move to pursue a motion for reconsideration against the ruling that previously dismissed the charges against de Lima.
In his ruling, Presiding Judge Abraham Alcantara affirmed the directive of Prosecutor General Richard Anthony Fadullon to withdraw the appeal.
“With the withdrawal of the motion for reconsideration, this case is hereby deemed closed and terminated,” Alcantara said.
Earlier, prosecutors led by Provincial Prosecutor Ramoncito Bienvenido Ocampo had argued in their motion for reconsideration that the recantation of former Bureau of Corrections chief Rafael Ragos was not enough to “vitiate,” or invalidate, his original testimony.
Department of Justice (DOJ) Secretary Jesus Crispin “Boying” Remulla, however, intervened and ordered Fadullon to retract the motion and “stop the foolishness of these people under us because they are following a political agenda, not a legal agenda.”