Detained Sen. Leila de Lima
Detained Senator Leila de Lima said this on Friday after Kerwin Espinosa recanted his allegations against the legislator.
“Matagal ko nang pinatawad, at ipinasa-Diyos, yung mga ginamit o nagpagamit sa mga kasinungalingan laban sa akin—yung nga tinakot, binayaran, blinackmail o pinangakuan ng pera o kung anumang pribilehiyo,” De Lima said in a statement.
(I have long forgiven those who were used and those who allowed themselves to be used in the lies against me—those who were threatened, bribed, blackmailed, and offered money and other other privileges.)
Matagal ko nang pinatawad, at ipinasa-Diyos, yung mga ginamit o nagpagamit sa mga kasinungalingan laban sa akin—yung nga tinakot, binayaran, blinackmail o pinangakuan ng pera o kung anumang pribilehiyo. 1/2
— Leila de Lima (@AttyLeiladeLima) April 29, 2022
Espinosa, through a counter-affidavit submitted before the Department of Justice (DOJ), retracted his allegations linking De Lima to the illegal drug trade in the New Bilibid Prison.
The counter-affidavit signed by Espinosa read: “[a]ny statement he (Espinosa) made against the Senator are false and was the result of pressure, coercion, intimidation, and serious threats to his life and family members from the police who instructed him to implicate the Senator into the illegal drug trade.”
De Lima, meanwhile, echoed her legal counsel, Atty. Filibon Tacardon, in calling on other witnesses to come forward and tell the truth.
“Hinihikayat ko ang mga naging bahagi ng pang-aaping nagaganap sa akin na sumunod at magsiwalat ng kanilang nalalaman. Lumalabas na ang katotohanan. Malapit na ang hustisya,” she said.
(I call on those who were part of the oppression I am facing to reveal what they know. The truth is coming out. Justice is near.)
“Ang hangad ko: Pagpapanagot sa mga nasa likod nito. Ang pinakasigaw ko: HUSTISYA!” she added.
(My hope: To hold accountable those behind this. My cry: JUSTICE!)
Meanwhile, Malacañang believes Espinosa’s retraction “will not have any effect” on the pending cases against De Lima, noting that he is “not a state witness.”
De Lima, a staunch critic of President Rodrigo Duterte, has been detained since February 2017 over what she has repeatedly branded as “trumped-up” drug charges.
The Muntinlupa Regional Trial Court Branch 205 earlier granted her demurrer to evidence in Case Number 17-166, marking her acquittal in one of the three cases, which she called a “moral victory.”
In a separate statement, De Lima again criticized Duterte’s drug war as the President’s term comes to an end in June.
“Whether it was ignorance about the complex nature of the drug problem or simply hubris, what is clear is that for all his posturing of being a veteran in the fight against illegal drugs, Duterte’s drug war was bound to fail from the very start,” she said.
Whether it was ignorance about the complex nature of the drug problem or simply hubris, what is clear is that for all his posturing of being a veteran in the fight against illegal drugs, Duterte’s drug war was bound to fail from the very start. 1/4
— Leila de Lima (@AttyLeiladeLima) April 29, 2022
“His drug war was all about killing people, most of them from the poor and marginalized sectors, instead of going after the big drug lords and stopping the smuggling of drugs into the country,” she added.
De Lima, who is seeking reelection this year, previously served at the helm of the Commission on Human Rights – where she led a probe on the so-called Davao Death Squad or DDS, and the DOJ.