De Lima hits alleged reinstatement of Ragos to NBI

MANILA, Philippines — Senator Leila de Lima on Thursday hit the alleged reinstatement of Rafael Ragos, who testified against her on drug-related charges, as deputy director of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI).

The senator, who has been in detention at the Philippine National Police Custodial Center since February 2017, said that Ragos was “reportedly ordered reinstated recently by Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra to his old office at the NBI as Deputy Director.”

“The best example of how Duterte has used privileges and rewards on perjured witnesses to testify against me is none other than NBI official Rafael Ragos,” De Lima said in a statement.

Ragos and NBI’s Jovencio Ablen Jr. testified against De Lima, claiming they delivered money from drug inmates to the senator through her former aide Ronnie Dayan.

“Ragos knows that his claim, in his testimonies before the House of [Representatives], the RTC (Regional Trial Court) and the Senate, of alleged delivery of money to my residence on two occasions is a BIG LIE. But he knows also, as he has reportedly bragged, that his perjured testimony is a vital thread in this administration’s fabricated tapestry,” De Lima said.

“Kaya malakas ang loob ni Ragos na hingin kay Duterte na ibalik siya bilang NBI Deputy Director dahil na rin sa kanilang napagkasunduan ni dating Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II na ibabalik siya sa posisyon at hindi siya kakasuhan kapalit ng mga kasinungalingan niya laban sa akin,” the senator added.

(Ragos is confident to ask Duterte for him to be reinstated as NBI Deputy Director because of a prior deal with former Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II  that he will be brought back to his position and that he will not be charged in exchange of the lies against me.)

De Lima said Ragos is now “reaping his reward”, adding that her persecutors are “desperate” to the point of “striking deals with convicted felons and other rotten characters like Ragos” to ensure her conviction.

“From the time the DOJ withdrew Ragos’s name from the Information filed in court, in exchange for a belated and newly-embellished affidavit, it was already a given that he successfully struck a deal with Duterte through Aguirre. Now he is reaping his reward,” the senator said.

“The NBI, as one of the country’s premier law enforcement agencies, deserves better than to be another victim of Duterte’s policy of recycling discredited and corrupt public officials,” the senator added.

INQUIRER.net has sought the comment of Guevarra regarding the alleged order tor reinstate Ragos in NBI but has yet to receive a reply as of posting time.

Edited by KGA