Former president Rodrigo Duterte has "accepted" the Muntinlupa court's decision to acquit former senator Leila de Lima in one of her two remaining drug cases, his former legal counsel and now spokesperson Atty. Salvador Panelo said on Friday.
"Ex-president Rodrigo Duterte said acquittal must be accepted," Panelo said in a statement.
But he noted that from the very beginning, the former president have taken no interest in de Lima's cases.
Despite the claims that Duterte has initiated the case against de Lima, Panelo asserted that the latter "never interfered with the judicial process in the same manner he never intervened with the work of the department secretaries unless there is corruption."
It can be recalled that illegal drug charges were filed against de Lima during the Duterte administration.
In 2017, the raps were filed after the former senator launched a Senate investigation into Duterte's war against drugs campaign where thousands of drug users and pushers as well as innocent civilians were brutally killed.
On Friday morning, Muntinlupa Branch 204 acquitted de Lima in one of her two remaining illegal drugs charges.
According to de Lima’s legal counsel, Atty. Boni Tacardon, the court found that there’s no positive evidence that proves his client's involvement in the illegal drug trade.
