Sen. Leila de Lima. LYN RILLON/INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
Senator Leila de Lima was tight-lipped on Monday about her former driver’s alleged involvement in illegal drugs.
“I would not be answering those questions at this point,” De Lima said when asked over CNN Philippines that her former driver Ronnie Dayan could have engaged in illegal drugs without her knowledge.
“What I can say at this point by way of reiteration is that I’m not in anyway connected, linked to or involved in drugs. That’s all I need to assert. I stand by that assertion. I stand by my innocence up to last my breath,” she added.
President Rodrigo Duterte earlier accused De Lima of having an affair with her former driver, who he said had collected drug money for her at the New Bilibid Prison.
Duterte said De Lima’s relationship with the driver “gave rise to the corruption that was happening inside the national penitentiary.”
READ: Why expose De Lima’s ‘relationship’ with her driver?
De Lima was also mum when asked about the possibility that Dayan would turn against her.
READ: De Lima says ex-driver facing threats to speak against her
“Again I would not want to touch on that,” she said.
“I’m sorry, I’d rather that we focus on the inquiry because precisely in the last few days, perhaps wittingly or unwittingly, some elements have ben trying to distract or divert the real issue at hand. The very issue at hand is the issue of summary executions, extra legal killings …including the so-called vigilante killings…” said the senator.
De Lima chairs the Senate committee on justice and human rights which is investigating the alleged extrajudicial killings and summary executions under the Duterte administration. RAM/rga
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