Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre (right) and Sen. Leila de Lima (left). INQUIRER FILE PHOTOS
Senator Leila de Lima on Tuesday dared Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II to freeze her alleged banks accounts that would purportedly link her to illegal drugs.
But if he could not prove his allegation, then he should remove his toupee, de Lima told reporters in jest.
“Nagsasawa na po ako kaya nakikipagbiruian na lang ako sa inyo (I’m sick and tired [of these issues] that’s why I’m joking with you). I can’t help myself so pasensyahan nyo ako kung medyo pinapatulan ko na lang yang ganyang mga style (so please forgive me if I’m riding on that style). I’m just giving them a doze of their own medicine dahil katawa tawa na po so gusto ko na ring magpatawa kasi naman ako’y magkakasakit na parating seryoso sa kade-deny ng mga yan kasi (because these are ridiculous so I would like to make jokes because I’m getting sick in seriously denying [these issues] because) these are really lies,” she said.
“Pwede ko syang (Aguirre) i-dare ngayon kung totoo pong accounts ko yan na mga nasa pangalan ng iba pero accounts ko yan lang. Pwede ba sabihin nya sa mga bangko na yan, ano man yang mga bank accounts na yan na i-freeze ang mga accounts na yan?
(I could dare Aguirre if these are indeed my accounts under the names of other people. Could he ask the banks to freeze those accounts?)
De Lima was confident, however, that the banks would not do that because she said the accounts did not belong to her.
The banks, she said, could not just freeze the accounts without the permission of the true owners or without a court order.
“Pero yan ang pinaka challenge ko sa kanya ganun pa rin, patatanggal ko sa kanya yung peluka nya kung hindi na naman nya magawa yan (But that is my challenge to him, I would ask him to remove his toupee if he fails to do it),” the senator said.
If the banks believe that the accounts indeed belonged to her or her dummies, then de Lima said they “can very well accede to that demand of mine.”
“I-freeze na nila yan kung totoong sa akin yan (They could freeze them if those indeed belong to me),” she added.
De Lima reiterated that the bank accounts being linked to her were fake or not authentic, noting the absence of adverse or negative findings of the Anti-Money Laundering Council. RAM/rga
READ: De Lima denies millions in banks