THE Office of the Ombudsman has ruled for the dismissal of direct and indirect bribery charges against detained former senator Leila de Lima and her former bodyguard Ronnie Dayan due to lack of probable cause.
The charges, which were filed by the Special Team of Investigators-Office of the Ombudsman in 2018, stemmed from the claims of self-confessed drug lord Kerwin Espinosa and his reported former driver/bodyguard Marcelo Adorco that De Lima and Dayan received grease money for the protection of their illegal drugs transactions.
The Ombudsman, through prosecutor Danie Von Evan Panelo, noted in its decision the inconsistencies of evidence presented by the complainant using the testimonies of Espinosa and Adorco, particularly on how the bribe money was delivered and in what tranches the delivery were.
It said that based on Espinosa’s testimony, the bribe money is being handed over to Dayan, while Adorco said it was De Lima who personally gets the money.
Espinosa claimed the P8 million supposed bribe money was given in four trenches, while Adorco claimed it was all given at one time during a lunch meeting in a restaurant in Pasay City.
“Failing to provide a semblance of clarity on these crucial details, it would be difficult to excite in a reasonable mind a well-founded belief that the respondents had received money from Kerwin in exchange for ‘protection’ for the latter’s illicit drug trade,” the resolution read.
“The testimonies the complainant had presented failed to provide a clear, accurate, and consistent narration of facts crucial in determining whether the elements of Direct Bribery and Indirect Bribery exist,” it added.
It also noted that the supposed “meeting” in Baguio of De Lima and Espinosa is “more likely” a chance encounter “since the latter was there to boost her senatorial candidacy.”
“This is especially true since according to Ram-Jhon, Kerwin had instructed him to book a trip to Baguio to get away from the chaos of the preparation for the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit in Metro Manila,” the resolution stated.
The Ombudsman noted that the preliminary investigation seeks to secure the innocent against hasty, malicious, and oppressive prosecution and that it aims to protect the innocent from an open and public accusation of a crime, from the trouble, expense, and anxiety of a public trial.
“After all, an acquittal from a manifestly baseless accusation can hardly be considered a situation where justice has triumphed,” it added.
In a counter-affidavit submitted by Espinosa to the Department of Justice in April, he said that all his allegations against De Lima, including receiving millions worth of money from him as protection, were lies he fabricated due to the pressure, coercion and intimidation by the police.
Espinosa dragged De Lima in his illegal drug transaction in various congressional investigations since 2016 which were among the basis of the charges filed against the former Senator that resulted in her detention.
Espinosa’s reversal was triggered by his removal from the Witness Protection Program (WPP), his transfer from the National Bureau of Investigation facility to the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology in Bicutan and the continuous filing of charges against him despite their earlier promise not to as long as he maintains his stand against De Lima.
In his counter-affidavit submitted to the DOJ on May 24, 2022, Adorco also recanted his claims against Espinosa and De Lima, saying that he was forced by the police to issue such an affidavit. (SunStar Philippines)