Party list nominee freed after nearly 2 months in jail
MANILA, Philippines — Magsasaka party list group nominee and labor leader Lejun dela Cruz was set free on Sunday after the Las Piñas Regional Trial Court Branch 275 granted his demurrer to evidence, effectively dismissing the murder charges against him.
He was released from the Las Piñas City Jail after nearly two months following what he called a failed police assassination attempt against him.
READ: Party list group hits alleged PNP slay try on nominee
The court said the prosecution failed to present conclusive evidence linking Dela Cruz to the alleged crime.
Magsasaka general secretary and legal counsel General Du said that Dela Cruz is preparing to file countercharges against the Marikina police officers who arrested him on Feb. 2 for the 1992 murder of a certain Eduardo Jimenez.
Dela Cruz’s lawyers questioned why state prosecutors belatedly filed the information for these cases in separate Las Piñas courts in 2000 and 2020. —Dexter Cabalza
