President Rodrigo Duterte and Sen. Leila de Lima. INQUIRER FILE PHOTOS
President Duterte crowed that the career of Sen. Leila de Lima was over, shortly before disclosing a “matrix” to buttress his allegation that she was linked to the illegal drug trade.
De Lima, one of his most vocal critics, is “undergoing a nightmare now,” Mr. Duterte said in the wake of his claims that her driver-bodyguard, Ronnie Dayan, who he also described as her lover, had collected payoffs for her, and that she had facilitated the drug trade at New Bilibid Prison (NBP).
“De Lima, you are finished. Tapos ka na (You are done) next election,” he said in a late-night press conference on Wednesday.
The matrix is a diagram naming De Lima in the alleged activities of convicted drug lords at NBP.
Also named in the chart are Dayan, former Justice Undersecretary Francisco Baraan III, his brother Pangasinan Administrator Raffy Baraan, former Bureau of Corrections chief Franklin Bucayo, former Pangasinan Gov. and now Rep. Amado Espino Jr., Pangasinan Board Member Raul Sison and a Ms Cardenosa.
The paper could hardly be described as evidence, a point De Lima stressed in an interview with reporters on Thursday, describing it as a “joke.”
Mr. Duterte said De Lima was the first to disregard human rights when she aired allegations without substantiating them that he was tied to the Davao Death Squad (DDS) when he was mayor of Davao and described his city as a killing field.
De Lima headed the Commission on Human Rights at the time and was investigating the activities of the DDS, which was alleged to be behind the extrajudicial killings of criminals in Davao City.
“She came back here bringing a shovel and saying Davao was killing fields,” Mr. Duterte said.
But she did not find anything, except the bones of a person, two skulls and plate numbers that were with the other party that had urged her to come to Davao, he said.
“She violated human rights, she started everything. Not only me, but she destroyed many Filipinos,” he said.
“Now the truth is out, the cat is out of the bag, as they say,” he added.
But De Lima, he said, continues to yak about the same issues.
Presidential Communications Secretary Martin Andanar said Mr. Duterte’s latest matrix showing De Lima’s alleged link to the drug trade was backed by evidence.
“We know Senator De Lima is no ordinary person. She is a senator of the Republic and President Duterte would not mention her name if he did not have the evidence to back the claim,” Andanar said in a television interview.
He also said the matrix underwent validation before it was released. The people named in the chart would have the chance to submit counteraffidavits to dispute any allegation against them, he said.
In the House of Representatives, Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez said on Thursday the chamber would look into the alleged involvement of Representative Espino, who denied involvement in the drug trade at NBP.
He said Espino would be given a chance to explain his side in the inquiry to be conducted by the appropriate committees.
But Ifugao Rep. Teddy Baguilat, an opposition congressman from the Liberal Party (LP), suggested that the 292-member chamber should take a stronger stance in support of Espino.
“Congressman Espino has been named. Will the legislative allow the executive to defame a member of the chamber? Without evidence, this is defamation,” he said in a Twitter post.
Espino, formerly of the Nationalist People’s Coalition, supported Duterte’s rival, former Interior Secretary Mar Roxas of the LP, in the May elections.
“I have never been friendly with Senator De Lima, especially since she was instrumental in pursuing the investigation of a fabricated murder case against me at the height of the elections in 2012,” Espino said. With reports from Gabriel Cardinoza, Inquirer Northern Luzon, and DJ Yap