JUSTICE Secretary Menardo Guevarra rebuked over the weekend the camp of outgoing Sen. Leila de Lima for publicizing the retractions of witnesses in the illegal drugs cases filed against her.

According to Guevarra, the affidavits containing the retractions should be presented in court handling and trying the cases, not to the press, so that government prosecutors can properly cross-examine them.

Some of the witnesses claimed that they were coerced to sign affidavits linking the opposition legislator to the illegal drugs trade inside the densely-packed national penitentiary.

In an affidavit recently submitted before the Department of Justice, 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 illegal 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.

Adorco was one of the four personalities who withdrew their statements against de Lima.

Last month, Espinosa retracted his allegations against de Lima – that he gave a total of P8 million to the campaign funds of the legislator through her former driver Ronnie 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.

Also, in an affidavit dated April 30, 2022, former Corrections chief Rafael Ragos formally recanted his statements linking the beleaguered legislator to illegal drugs, and apologized to her.

“As far as I know and based on my professional relationship with Sec. De Lima, she is incapable of doing anything illegal, much less engage in the illegal drug trade or accept money from Bilibid inmates. All of my allegations to the contrary in my affidavits and House and court testimonies are all fiction, false, and fabricated,” Ragos said in a statement.

In 2016, Ragos claimed that he and former government agent Jovencio Ablen Jr., delivered a bag containing P5 million to Dayan at de Lima’s residence in Parañaque City.

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

De Lima is currently detained at the Custodial Center of the Philippine National Police (PNP) in Camp Crame, Quezon City as she faces drug charges filed by the DOJ.

De Lima is facing charges of conspiracy to commit illegal drugs trade in at least two (2) branches of the Muntinlupa RTC. Around 40 prosecution witnesses have testified against her, including Ragos.

She was accused of benefitting from the illegal drugs trade when she was the justice secretary during the Aquino administration.