Another witness in De Lima drug case recants testimony

A former Bureau of Corrections officer who served as a witness against Senator Leila De Lima retracted his testimony, claiming he was intimidated by then-Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre into fabricating false claims against her.

Rafael Ragos apologized for testifying against De Lima in an interview and claimed she should be acquitted of the drug accusations for which she has been incarcerated since February 2017.

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Ragos testified at a Senate hearing in 2016 that he delivered P5 million in earnings from the illegal drug trade inside the New Bilibid Prison to De Lima’s house in Parañaque City in 2012, along with aide Jovencio Ablen Jr.

He also testified that the kickbacks came from Peter Co and other drug traffickers to help the senator win a Senate seat in 2013.

Ragos was appointed OIC of BuCor in 2012 by De Lima, who refuted the claims.

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In an affidavit signed in Pasig City on April 30, 2022, Ragos recanted his confession.

Another witness in De Lima drug case recants testimony

“As far as I know and based on my professional relationship with Sec. De Lima, she is incapable of doing anything illegal, much less engaging 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 his statement.

Kerwin Espinosa, a self-proclaimed drug lord, recanted all of his charges against the senator last week, but the Prosecutor General said his confession does not influence the case against her.

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“Any statement he made against the Senator is false and was the result of pressure, coercion, intimidation and serious threats to his life and family members from the police who instructed him to implicate the Senator into the illegal drug trade,” Espinosa said.

De Lima, a vocal opponent of President Rodrigo Duterte and his murderous drug campaign, was imprisoned in 2017 on charges of being involved in the illegal drug trade while serving as Justice Secretary under Benigno Aquino’s administration. The charges have been refuted by De Lima.

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