Associate Justice Presbitero Velasco Jr. contradicted himself numerous times in rejecting the plea of detained Sen. Leila de Lima to toss out her indictment for drug trafficking, according to two of his colleagues in the Supreme Court. A check made by the Inquirer on Velasco’s opinions regarding Revilla’s and De Lima’s petitions revealed that he actually took contrasting views on other similar legal matters. In dismissing her certiorari petition, Velasco said hearsay evidence was enough to prompt the DOJ to conduct a preliminary investigation against an accused and that the testimonies provided by De Lima’s supposed coconspirators, among them convicted drug lords, should not be disregarded outright. “However, the information… as filed against (De Lima), clearly and egregiously does not specify any of the essential elements necessary to prosecute the crime of illegal sale of drugs,” Carpio argued. ADVERTISEMENTDe Lima had tried to seek Velasco’s inhibition from her petition due to his supposed ties with convicted drug lord German Agojo, who had also testified against her.

Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer October 22, 2017 23:03 UTC