Sen. Leila de Lima. (File photo from the Philippine Daily Inquirer)
MANILA, Philippines — No, she did not admit being a protector of illegal drug operations as a fake video currently circulating online might show.
Detained Senator Leila de Lima on Wednesday denied admitting being a protector of Bilibid drug lords and that she purportedly surrendered her mandate as a senator.
She said no amount of “fake news or perjured testimonies” could “obliterate the truth” about her innocence from illegal drug charges filed against her by the government.
“Hindi po ako drug lord. Hindi po ako protektor ng drug lord. No fake news or perjured testimonies can ever obliterate the truth about my innocence,” De Lima said in a dispatch from Camp Crame.
The senator also denounced the makers and purveyors of fake news directed to her, describing them as “evil and women” with no heart nor conscience.
“Yung mga nasa likod ng fake video/fake news na naman (na umamin na daw ako bilang protector ng iligal na droga), these are evil men and women. Mga walang puso at konsensya!” she said.
“Wala na po ba silang pagkaabalahan at pagkakitaan kundi ang manira ng dignidad at ng aking pagkatao?” De Lima added.
A spliced video version of De Lima’s privilege speech at the Senate about extrajudicial killings on August 2, 2016 has been gaining attention recently as “some sinister groups and paid trolls started sharing and reposting it online” again, De Lima said.
The spliced video implies that De Lima supposedly admitted to being a protector of Bilibid drug lords and that she purportedly surrendered her mandate as a senator of the republic.
The senator has been detained since 2017 for her alleged involvement in the spread of illegal drugs in the New Bilibid Prison when she was justice secretary. She has denied the allegations. /je