House warned on De Lima sex videos: There’s political price to pay

The second day of Commitee on Justice hearing on National Bilibid Prison illegal drugs trade at the House of Representatives in Quezon City. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO / RICHARD A. REYES

SENATE President Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III on Wednesday warned his fellow legislators at the House of Representatives to be ready “to pay the political price” when they play the alleged sex videos of Senator Leila de Lima.

“A reminder to all fellow legislators to be responsible for our actions. Be sensitive to the sensibilities, the feelings and the effect of our actions on our fellow legislators,” Pimentel told reporters.

“But if they should do some reckless action, be ready to pay the political price. Ganun naman kami sa elective offices like the Senate and Congress. We cannot be impeached, but we should be ready to pay the political price for our actions,” he said.

The Senate leader was reacting to the House’s reported plan to show de Lima’s videos during its ongoing probe on the alleged proliferation of illegal drugs at the New Bilibid Prison when she was still the justice secretary.

Pimentel also warned that the alleged sex videos could just be part of a psywar.

“Ang dami-daming claim na ganyan. I haven’t seen it. Ang dami-daming nag-attempt na ipakita sa akin yan…Bakit tayo kumakagat sa ganitong usapin. Actually we may be wasting our time,” he said.

Senate President Pro-Tempore Franklin Drilon said inter-parliamentary courtesy would call for a respect and courtesy to a fellow legislator.

“Therefore, I call on Senate President Aquilino Pimentel and House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez to meet and discuss this, because this is something I have never heard of before,” Drilon, de Lima’s partymate in the Liberal Party, said in a statement.

READ: Alvarez: Nothing wrong if De Lima sex video shown in probe

Whether or not the alleged sex videos were true, showing them was just too much and “foul,” said Senator Antonio Trillanes IV in an interview.

“Sa akin, meron mang sex video o wala, talagang foul na yan. Kahit kanino gagwin yan, i-imagine ni Speaker Alvarez kung sa kanya gagawin yan, whether totoo o hindi, hindi tayo dapat bababa sa ganyang standards kung gusto nilang i-demean yung pagkatao ni (Senator) de Lima. Sobra-sobra na yan, hindi dapat ginagawa yan,” Trillanes added.

Even Senator Panfilo “Ping” Lacson was opposed to show the videos in the House inquiry, saying it was “inappropriate” and not “admissible” evidence anyway.

“Hindi admissible as evidence, bakit mo pa ipapalabas? What’s the point? Walang authentication,” Lacson said in another interview.