De Lima denies quit-DOJ rumors; admits waiting for LP invite

Justice Secretary Leila de Lima on Monday denied rumors that she would resign by June to prepare for the 2016 senatorial race.

“Hindi pa naman talaga ako kinakausap specifically or formally ng LP. Informally kantyaw kantyaw pa lang…so bakit ako magreresign kung wala naman akong siguradong plano,” De Lima added.

(LP [Liberal Party] hasn’t talked to me specifically or formally. Informally there had been teasings though…so why would I resign if I don’t have a definite plan.)

“So, I’m just waiting for any invitation [from LP] to any formal talks kung saka-sakali [if ever],” De Lima told reporters Monday.

But she said LP members including Interior and Local Government Secretary Mar Roxas have already been teasing her about reports of her supposed plan to run for the Senate.

“Si Mar madalas akong kantyawan. Pero kantyaw lang (Mar often teases me but it;s just that, teasing),” De Lima said.

De Lima said her focus is still on her duties as Secretary of Justice.

“At the moment, I am focused on my work here [DOJ]. I am swamped with work,” she said, adding that she is even making a list of the most pressing matters that she needs to attend to before leaving the DOJ.

She added that she would rather keep silent on her post-DOJ plans.

“Baka sabihin nila, lahat ng ginagawa ko ngayon is to advance any political plan that I have (People might think what I do is only to advance any political plan I have),” she added.

In a Pulse Asia survey conducted in September last year, De Lima was among other personalities with a chance of winning a senatorial post if the elections were held in that period.

In that survey, De Lima got a 35.3-percent rating to land her in the 11th to 15th place.

Topping the survey of potential candidates with a good chance of landing a Senate post are incumbent Senators Vicente “Tito” Sotto III and Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. along with former senators Francis Pangilinan, Manuel “Mar” Roxas II and Panfilo “Ping” Lacson.