President Duterte and Sen. Leila de Lima INQUIRER FILE PHOTOS
After dismissing the drug matrix presented by President Rodrigo Duterte as “rubbish,” a feisty Sen. Leila de Lima faced reporters on Thursday saying that the demolition job against her should be stopped.
In a press conference, De Lima said that she takes pity on the President, saying that the allegations against her are just mere fabrications bereft of proof.
“This all madness is almost laughable. Ngayong nakita ko itong matrix, natawa na lang ako at naawa na lang ako sa Pangulo. Yun ang totoo (When I saw the matrix, I just laughed it off and I take pity on the President),” de Lima said.
READ: De Lima calls matrix linking her to drugs trade ‘rubbish’
She said that she hopes that the President would now stop hurling tirades against her.
“Sana maawa na rin sa akin ang Pangulo na sana ay tigilan na rin niya (I hope the President would take pity on me and stop this). This is already madness, Mr. President,” she pleaded.
The senator reiterated that she is “absolutely, 100 percent sure” that no genuine evidence would prove her alleged involvement in the illegal drug trade.
“Wala po silang makukuhang tunay na ebidensiya (They won’t get any genuine evidence) because I am absolutely, 100 percent sure of myself and I am absolutely, 100 percent sure of my innocence. I have no connections whatsover with drugs,” she said.
On the other hand, she also offered an unsolicited advice to the President.
“Three-fourths [of the press conference] is all about me. Nagsasayang ng oras dito. Mas maraming dapat gawin ang Pangulo. Ako rin po. Gusto ko na po mag-concentrate sa pinakatunay na trabaho (It’s just a waste of time. The President has a lot of other things to do. Same goes with me. I would like to concentrate on my real work),” De Lima said.
The feisty senator vowed that Thursday’s press conference with reporters will be the last time that she would react on the allegations made by Duterte.
In a press conference which ended early Monday, Duterte said that De Lima’s political career is now “finished.”
READ: De Lima is ‘finished’ – Duterte
“Tapos ka na. Sunod [na] eleksyon (You’re finished. Next elections)?” Duterte thundered during a midnight news conference in Davao City.
During the said press conference, the President presented a matrix which supposedly showed De Lima’s involvement in the illegal drug trade at the national penitentiary. RAM/rga
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