Speaker Davao Del Norte Rep. Pantaleon “Bebot” Alvarez and Senator Leila de Lima. INQUIRER FILE PHOTOS
Senator Leila de Lima has advised Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez to do his research first before conducting an investigation on the alleged proliferation of drug use inside the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) when she was still the Justice secretary.
De Lima, nevertheless, expressed her willingness to participate in the planned investigation of the House of Representatives if it is indeed in aid of legislation aimed at reforming the prison system.
“Ang advice ko lang po kay Speaker Alvarez is that alamin rin n’ya po kung ano ‘yung mga ginawa ko na mga hakbang noong ako po ay DOJ (Department of Justice) secretary…Mag research naman po sila kung ano po ang aking mga ginawa sa pakikilaban din sa ilegal na droga,” the senator said in an interview after President Rodrigo Duterte’s first State of the Nation Address Monday night.
(My advice to Speaker Alvarez is know first the things I did as DOJ secretary, research on the things I did to combat illegal drugs.)
“Huwag naman ho silang ganyan na parang nag i-insinuate sila na parang ako na ngayon ang coddler ng mga drug addict (I hope they do not insinuate that I am a coddler of drug addicts). It’s so, so, so unfair. So sana po ganun ang gawin (I hope that’s what they do),” she said.
De Lima, who headed the DOJ before she was elected senator last May, was reacting to Alvarez’s plan to seek a congressional inquiry into the alleged proliferation of illegal drugs at the NBP under her term.
READ: Alvarez calls for House probe on De Lima over drug problem
The senator suspects that there might be people feeding Alvarez or the new administration false information to discredit her.
Asked if she was willing to face the planned House probe, De Lima said: “It really depends on the thrust of the investigation. If the House inquiry is really towards drafting laws in order to reform the prison system para mawala na totally yung mga prison-based criminality dyan sa (is to totally eradicate the prison-based criminality in) Bilibid, I’m more than willing to be involved.”
“And in fact sa level ko, in my own committee, kung ako talaga ang magiging chair ng justice and human rights committee (In fact, if I will really be given the chance to chair the justice and human rights committee), in my own committee, I will do counterpart things, moves, actions,” the senator added. IDL/rga