Sereno one of the six magistrates who favors granting De Lima petition!

                      The Supreme Court (SC) ruled in favor of detained Senator Leila de Lima, Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno said the lawmaker would still have to remain detained.

                       On Tuesday, the SC voted 9-6 to dismiss the petition of de Lima who sought the nullification of the arrest order against her as she cited, among her arguments, the regional trial court (RTC) has no jurisdiction over the drug charges filed against her.

                       A panel of prosecutors of the Department of Justice (DOJ) filed the drug charges before the Muntinlupa City RTC in February after finding probable cause to indict her over her alleged involvement in the proliferation of the illegal drugs trade at the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) when she was still justice secretary.

                        Sereno, who is among the six magistrates in favor of granting de Lima’s petition, explained the senator would have to be kept in detention should the SC grant her petition to have her drug cases transferred to the jurisdiction of the Office of the Ombudsman.

                      “It would be necessary for the Court (SC) to provide the Ombudsman a certain period of time within which to file a new complaint or information based on the records and resolution transmitted by the panel,” read Sereno’s dissenting opinion released just yesterday (October 13).

                       “Significantly, petitioner will not be discharged from custody,” she pointed out.
“If however, the Ombudsman finds that there is no probable cause to charge her, or if it fails to file an Information before the Sandiganbayan within the period provided by this Court, petitioner should be ordered discharged, without prejudice to another prosecution for the same offense,” Sereno assured.

                         In her dissenting opinion, Sereno believes the Sandiganbayan which tries public officials has jurisdiction over the drug charges filed against de Lima and not the RTC.
The Chief Justice explained “the jurisdiction of the Sandiganbayan obtains when the relation between the crime and the offense is direct and not accidental such that, in the legal sense, the offense cannot exist without the office.”

                       “Regardless of whether the Information charges the crime of bribery or illegal drug trading, or regardless of how the Court clarifies the crime, there is only one conclusion—the crime could not have been committed if not for petitioner’s position as Secretary of Justice,” she stated.

                         Citing sworn affidavits of imprisoned drug lords at the NBP, Sereno noted “the grant of privileges became the modus by which petitioner influenced the proliferation of the drug trade inside the NBP.”

                         “Assuming all of these allegations to be true, it can only be concluded that petitioner could not have participated in any way in the drug trade unless she used her office for that purpose,” Sereno said.