Former corrections officer-in-charge (OIC) Rafael Ragos has apologized to former senator Leila de Lima for his previous drug accusations against her.

“I’m really sorry. Natakot ako,“ Ragos told de Lima in a brief encounter after the drug case hearing at the Muntinlupa City court on Friday, Nov. 4.

Ragos, the star witness in de Lima’s drug case, attended the hearing to recant his allegations.

He was supposed to recant last Sept. 30 but was unable to do so after prosecutors filed a motion against him. The Muntinlupa court then affirmed that he could proceed with his testimony but it would be subject to credibility test and cross-examination.

In May this year, Ragos first retracted his statement and said he did not deliver the drug money worth Php 5 million each to Ronnie Dayan and de Lima.

He earlier claimed that he was threatened by then-former justice secretary Vitaliano Aguirre to invent such stories.

However, Aguirre has refuted the allegation of Ragos.

Speaking to the media last Thursday, Nov. 3, Aguirre called Ragos a “liar“ and said he did not coerce Ragos.

The former justice secretary even released a video footage taken by the Public Attorney's Office (PAO) in 2016 showing that Ragos was not forced but voluntarily testified against de Lima.

“Contrary sa kaniyang accusations against me na siya ay pinilit o kino-coerce ko, wala ka namang makikita na kino-coerce siya doon. As a matter of fact, very voluntary and spontaneous yung kaniyang pagbibigay ng statement,“ he told the reporters.

Aside from Ragos, three witnesses also retracted their previous statements against de Lima including self-confessed drug lord Kerwin Espinosa, Ronnie Dayan, and Marcelo Ardecoro.

De Lima, a known critic of former president Rodrigo Roa Duterte, was detained since 2017.