CITY OF SAN FERNANDO — “In this case, as comprehensively discussed… the Court finds that the evidence presented by the prosecution at this preliminary stage constitutes strong evidence of his guilt of the crimes charged. Hence his petition for bail must be denied.”
Thus, Presiding Judge Ayn Marie Grace Barit-Carig of the Regional Trial Court Branch 171 in Valenzuela City denied in a July 16 resolution the petition for bail of detained Pampanga 3rd District board member Estelito “Shiwen” Lim, who is facing cases of large-scale estafa.
Lim’s counsel was reported to have refiled a motion to admit the accused to bail after his transfer to the Valenzuela court last April, in compliance with a Supreme Court circular requiring cases of elected officials to be transferred outside of their political jurisdiction.
Brief background
On March 12, Presiding Judge Mary Jane Dacara-Buenaventura of Regional Trial Court Branch 44 referred the 10 criminal cases against Lim — no bail for nine of the estafa cases and P48,000 for one – to the nearest judicial region, which is RTC Valenzuela City.
In a hearing on April 21, Presiding Judge Grace Barit-Carig of RTC Branch 171 ordered Pampanga Provincial Jail warden Alain de Leon to transfer Lim to the Valenzuela City Jail. Punto News Team/With media reports
