President Rodrigo Duterte and Senator Leila de Lima. CEBU DAILY NEWS AND INQUIRER FILE PHOTOS
President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday said “plenty” of drug-related charges await his staunchest critic Sen. Leila de Lima as soon as the investigation on the proliferation of drugs at the national penitentiary concludes.
Duterte said he was “sure” with his evidence that would supposedly link De Lima to the illegal drug trade.
“I am sure with my evidence… If she’s in prison, pagdugtungin ko pa babae sa lalake na kulungan (If she’s in prison, I’ll put the men’s prison beside the women’s prison). She can have as many lovers as she wants,” Duterte said in a press briefing following the oath-taking of Malacañang Press Corps officials.
“Hindi ka na nahiya sa sarili mo (You have no shame). Any other woman would have slashed her throat. Baka akala mo artista ka (Maybe you think you’re a celebrity)… Ambition is good but her sexuality pulled her down,” he added.
Duterte earlier alleged that De Lima had an affair with her former driver and alleged bagman, who supposedly collected drug payoffs for her senatorial campaign. The former justice secretary’s alleged links to the narcotics trade at the New Bilibid Prisons were also the subject of a congressional inquiry, led by Duterte’s allies at the House of Representatives.
The President also assailed De Lima’s claim that convicted car thief and gang leader Jaybee Sebastian was her “asset” who provided information on illegal drug trade in the major prison facility.
READ: De Lima says Jaybee was her asset
“What was that asset? Was it a sexual asset or a source of information?” Duterte said.
De Lima, who has become the President’s staunchest critic, initiated the Senate probe on the spate of supposed extrajudicial killings in the country amid the administration’s bloody war on drugs. JE/rga