DESPITE the change in administration and retractions of witnesses, outgoing Department of Justice (DOJ) Secretary Menardo Guevarra on Tuesday said that government prosecutors will still pursue the active prosecution of the illegal drugs cases filed against Sen. Leila de Lima.

Guevarra stressed that after reviewing the cases filed against the embattled lawmaker, “there is good reason to continue the active prosecution of the senator.”

“The panel of prosecutors in the [d]e Lima cases has advised the justice secretary that, after a thorough review of the evidence already presented as well as evidence still to be presented, there is good reason to continue the active prosecution of the senator.”

“As far as the ‘retractions’ of certain persons are concerned, the prosecution takes the position that until these persons are actually presented in court for examination to ascertain their truthfulness, their alleged recantations have no probative value whatsoever. In any event, the final say on the disposition of the cases rests on the judge alone and no other,” Guevarra said in a message.

De Lima recently urged Guevarra to review and eventually withdraw the illegal drugs charges filed against her following the recantations of several witnesses.

In a letter to Guevarra, de Lima said: “In light of the statement of (former Bureau of Corrections Officer-in-Charge Rafael) Ragos, there is a need for the DOJ (Department of Justice) to review the drug cases filed against me… If, upon review, it is determined that Ragos statements are true (that he was coerced to implicate her in illegal drugs), then all the cases against me be immediately withdrawn by the DOJ in order to prevent a further miscarriage of justice…” de Lima said.

In his affidavit, Ragos accused the DOJ, government prosecutors, and National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) officials of coercion to drag the names of de Lima and her former driver Ronnie Dayan.

During congressional hearings in 2016, Ragos accused de Lima of reaping monetary benefits from the illegal drugs trade inside the densely-packed New Bilibid Prison (NBP) in Muntinlupa City when she was the Aquino administration’s justice secretary.

De Lima is facing conspiracy charges for committing illegal drug trade in at least two branches of the Muntinlupa RTC. Around 40 prosecution witnesses have testified against her, including Ragos.

In an affidavit dated April 30, 2022, and was signed in Pasig City, Ragos formally recanted his statements and apologized to de Lima, who is presently detained at the Philippine National Police Custodial Center in Camp Crame.

Also, Marcelo Adorco, a government witness against self-confessed drug dealer Kerwin Espinosa, divulged that he was forced to make the allegations against de Lima while he was detained in a police station in Leyte province.

“Wala pong katotohanan ang lahat ng aking alegasyon sa nasabi kong affidavit kung saan umamin ako na ako ay sangkot sa kalakaran ng ilegal na droga at isinangkot ko si Kerwin Espinosa at iba pang tao,” Adorco said.

“Ang totoo niyan, napilitan lamang akong pirmahan ang nasabing affidavit dahil sa pangamba sa aking buhay at kaligtasan,” he added.

Last month, Espinosa withdrew his allegations against de Lima – that he gave a total of P8 million to the campaign funds of the legislator through Dayan.

In his four-page counter-affidavit submitted before the DOJ, Espinosa said: “Any and all of his statements given during the Senate hearings, or in the form of sworn written affidavits, against Senator Leila De Lima are not true. He has no dealings with Sen. De Lima and has not given her any money at any given time. For this, undersigned apologizes to Senator De Lima,” Espinosa said.

Dayan also recanted, saying he was forced and coerced to issue statements dragging de Lima to the narcotics trade.