The Court of Appeals (CA) has refused to issue just yet a temporary restraining order (TRO) to stop the Department of Justice (DoJ) from prosecuting Senator Leile de Lima over allegations of her involvement in the proliferation of illegal drugs at the New Bilibid Prison (NBP).
The CA Special Sixth Division has issued a three-page resolution dated February 10 which “denies the prayer for issuance of an injunctive writ (temporary restraining order and/or preliminary injunction” that was sought by the lawmaker.
In the meantime, the CA required the DoJ prosecutors handling the case and the complainants to submit their comment on the petition of De Lima within 10 days from receipt of the resolution.
On the other hand, the CA also required de Lima to respond to the comments within 10 days from receipt
In its resolution, the appellate court pointed out that de Lima should show “the right to be protected exists prima facie” and “the acts sought to be enjoined are violative of that right.”
“Mere allegations of the existence of the above-named requisites, absent of proof, cannot be the basis for the issuance of an injunctive writ,” read the resolution penned by Associate Justice Nina Antonio-Valenuela and Associate Justices Romeo Barza and Edwin Sorongon.
The cases against her stemmed from the complaints filed by the Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption (VACC); the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI); former NBI deputy directors Reynaldo Esmeralda and Rule Lasala; and high-profile Bilibid inmate and self-confessed drug trader Jaybee Sebastian.
The complaints have been consolidated and the DoJ panel of prosecutors handling these has wrapped up the conduct of the preliminary investigation and will soon issue a resolution whether to indict de Lima or not. (Jeffrey G. Damicog)