De Lima names Alvarez, Calida, Aguirre behind hatchet job
Privilege speech of Senator and former Justice Secretary Leila de Lima, The Real Crisis We Face: Stop the Killings Now!, at the Senate Session Hall. INQUIRER PHOTO/LYN RILLON
SENATOR Leila de Lima has identified the “President’s men” who she said were trying to “discredit” her.
Among them, she said, were Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez, Solicitor General Jose Calida and Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre.
“Hindi lang naman si Speaker ang tumitira sa akin, ng mga kung ano ano ang mga insinuations. Si Solicitor General and the latest is the Secretary of Justice,” she said in an interview over Radyo Inquirer Tuesday night.
“These are the president’s men. Now, what am I supposed to think and say about that? These are the President’s men trying to discredit a sitting senator,” she said.
Before this, De lima delivered a privilege speech in the Senate, accusing the President’s men behind the demolition job against her by allegedly portraying her in public as a “drug lord coddler” and “protector.”
READ:De Lima: Duterte’s men depicted me as drug lord, protector
In her speech, the senator mentioned about the Speaker’s plan to investigate the alleged proliferation of illegal drugs inside the New Bilibid Prison when she was still the Justice Secretary.
She also noted Aguirre’s recent claim that high ranking officials of the Department of Justice from the previous administration were in the payroll of the NBP drug lords.
De Lima also hit Calida earlier for releasing a photo supposedly showing her with maximum security inmate Jaybee Sebastian.
READ: De Lima to SolGen: Focus on your job not on throwback
Despite this, the senator said she would give the President’s men the benefit of the doubt, saying there might be other “elements” who were feeding the President’s fabricated lies.
Asked if the demolition job could have also come from Malacañang, De Lima said: I would not say that at this point.”
“In fact, sana hindi nakakarating yang mga ganyan sa Pangulo o sana kung nakakarating sa kanya , hindi sya naniniwala,” she said.
