The Court of Appeals decision that returned to the lower court the acquittal of former senator Leila de Lima, which initially was viewed as a reversal, demands a thorough review of the case that symbolized narcopolitics.

After President Rodrigo Duterte stepped down, the witnesses against De Lima — Rafael Ragos, Kerwin Espinosa, and some inmates at the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) — recanted, for their self-interest.

Nonetheless, for some reason, the prosecution failed to exploit the solid evidence presented in the drug trafficking cases against De Lima which was that of now Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong and former Marine Lt. Col. Ferdinand Marcelino of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA).

Magalong was the director of the Philippine National Police (PNP) Criminal Investigation and Detection Group and later head of the Directorate for Investigation and Detection Management when De Lima was the justice secretary under the late President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III.

Another key personality who was overlooked was Marcelino, who mysteriously became the subject of a dragnet right after the planned raids at the New Bilibid Prison.

Marcelino and Magalong attested to maneuverings involving the highest officials to protect the drug trade inside the NBP.

Magalong related that a police operation called Oplan Cronus was mysteriously aborted and replaced with a bogus operation led by De Lima. Shortly after, it was Marcelino who was charged with involvement in the drug coverup, apparently to silence him.

Marcelino was part of the Armed Forces of the Philippines’ intelligence unit in the aborted operation that targeted the shabu delivery network inside the NBP.

Magalong corroborated Marcelino’s story that implicated key personalities during the Aquino administration who were protecting the NBP drug network.

“We already have targets or identified personalities who are confirmed to be involved in illegal drugs. The intelligence information includes Jaybee Sebastian, Peter Co, Vicenty Sy and Herbert Colanggo, among others,” Marcelino had reported.

Marcelino expressed surprise after Cronus was aborted and the Department of Justice replaced it with an operation on 15 December 2014 without him, Magalong, and the initial group.

“The Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines was excluded from the raid and the ensuing investigation, even though the original plan was for ISAFP to conduct a forensic examination of the contraband, including cell phones,” Marcelino said.

A representative of the Department of the Interior and Local Government, former Philippine National Police deputy director Gen. Marcelo Garbo, was part of the De Lima raiding team.

Garbo was included in the drug matrix of former President Rodrigo Duterte as among the police officials who were linked to drug syndicates.

Magalong said Cronus was supposed to isolate drug lords operating in the NBP, but the raids organized by De Lima sought instead to ease out rivals of drug lord inmate Jaybee Sebastian, whom De Lima allegedly tasked with overseeing the multi-billion-peso drug trade in the prison.

“We had several top-level meetings, and I even volunteered to have Secretary De Lima be the ground commander. All she could say to me was, ‘You just wait, Benjie,’” Magalong recounted.

Magalong was shortly told that the CIDG, which headed the raiding team, and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) were no longer part of the raiding team.

The testimonies of both Magalong and Marcelino would have provided the missing link connecting the lucrative drug trade to powerful politicians during the yellow regime.

Cronus was a product of discreet meetings among top officials of the PNP, PDEA and ISAFP.

Magalong presented the plan to then Justice Secretary De Lima.

Magalong was puzzled why De Lima’s raiding team, which took the place of the group under Oplan Cronus, failed to present the confiscated items deemed essential in breaking up the NBP drug trade, such as the computer hard drives of the drug lords, ledgers, and other documents and files kept by the high-value inmates.

Unresolved mysteries surrounding De Lima’s drug trafficking case will persist until they are fully resolved, as the CA ruling has made clear that no closure has yet been reached.