MANILA — A regional trial court judge has reaffirmed his decision to acquit Leila de Lima, a former senator and newly elected member of the House of Representatives, of drug-related conspiracy charges—despite an appellate court’s order questioning the legal foundation of the ruling.

The decision by Judge Abraham Joseph Alcantara of Muntinlupa City’s Regional Trial Court Branch 204 comes more than a year after he initially cleared Ms. de Lima and her former aide, Ronnie Dayan, of allegations that they accepted drug money from prison syndicates during her tenure as justice secretary.

“WHEREFORE, both accused Leila M. De Lima y Magistrado and Ronnie Palisoc Dayan are hereby ACQUITTED of the crime charged on the ground of reasonable doubt,” Alcantara wrote in a decision dated Friday, June 27, 2025.

In April, the Court of Appeals voided the May 2023 acquittal and ordered the trial court to revisit its ruling, citing its failure to sufficiently explain the factual and legal basis for the decision. But in a revised judgment issued Friday, Judge Alcantara said the retraction of testimony by a key government witness was a “sufficient basis” to uphold the presumption of innocence.

The witness, former Bureau of Corrections official Rafael Ragos, had earlier alleged that he delivered 10 million pesos in drug money to De Lima’s residence in 2012. In 2022, however, he recanted, claiming he had been coerced into implicating her.

“With due respect to the Honorable CA, the original decision of this Court was clear and unequivocal on this very basic essential point, i.e., the recantation already created reasonable doubt. The extended discussion under this revised Decision does not deviate nor change the elementary basis for the acquittal,” the decision read.

“In fact, the basis remains completely the same from the original Decision. Thus, the undersigned Presiding Judge humbly submits that the original Decision already clearly and distinctly stated the facts and law upon which it was based,” it added.

In a statement, De Lima thanked the judge “for his steadfast adherence to justice,” and described the years-long proceedings as a politically motivated effort to silence her.

“Vindicated numerous times, and yet they are relentless in trying to silence me,” she said. “But no matter how hard they try, they cannot erase the truth.”

De Lima, one of the most outspoken critics of former President Rodrigo Duterte’s bloody anti-drug campaign, was arrested in 2017 and detained for nearly seven years. She was released on bail in November 2023 after two cases against her were dismissed, with the third following in June 2024.

Her legal ordeal has drawn widespread attention from human rights organizations, many of whom expressed concern over what they viewed as the use of the justice system by authorities to harass and punish political dissent.

With her acquittal reaffirmed, De Lima is poised to return to public service, having won a seat in the House of Representatives in the May 2025 elections under the Mamamayang Liberal partylist.

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