De Lima fires back at Gatdula

MANILA, Philippines—Justice Secretary Leila de Lima on Monday hit back at Magtanggol Gatdula, who claimed that he was not afforded due process before he was sacked as director of the National Bureau of Investigation in connection with the alleged kidnapping of a Japanese woman.

“Kung masama ang loob niya, mas masama ang loob ko,” De Lima said in a text message to the INQUIRER.

“It’s quite unfair and reckless to be imputing ill motives on the part of the (investigating) panel and even on my part. The DOJ (Department of Justice) just did its job in ferreting out the truth,” she added.

In his interviews with television networks, Gatdula lamented he was not given a chance to prove his innocence over the allegations that he had a role in the alleged abduction of Noriyo Ohara, who was supposedly taken by NBI agents on Gatdula’s order.

He claimed that politics and a supposed “ambition” of a justice undersecretary to take his post as NBI chief may have been behind his ouster.

But De Lima pointed out that she herself sent a memorandum to Gatdula ordering him to explain his side on his purported role in the Ohara case.

“(About) Gatdula’s protestations about lack of due process, he’s not being forthright in his claims. He was invited by the panel and testified before the panel. The proceedings were duly recorded,” she said.

De Lima stressed that it was President Aquino himself who decided to replace Gatdula over insubordination and lack of trust after the former NBI chief failed to order Ohara’s transfer of custody to the Bureau of Immigration.