Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO/ARNOLD ALMACEN
Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II admitted that they have no “airtight” case yet against Senator Leila de Lima as they have yet to link her alleged billions of pesos of bank deposits to the illegal drug trade.
But on Monday, Aguirre said he would present another witness at the ongoing House of Representatives investigation who had been allegedly instructed by De Lima to deposit and withdraw hundreds of thousands of pesos in her account in a bank close to her house.
He said the witness is a member of the Presidential Security Guard (PSG) who was detailed to De Lima when she was still Justice Secretary.
“Kapag ako’y nag file ng case gusto ko airtight. Marami pa akong gagawin, ni hindi pa sumasagot sa amin ang AMLC (Anti-Money Laundering Council). Yun ang importante, yung makuha ko kung saan pumupunta yung mga at least P15 billion na nakukuha sa drug money,” Aguirre told reporters after attending a budget hearing at the Senate on Friday.
(When I file a case, I want it to be airtight. I have to accomplish many things, the AMLC has yet to respond to us. That’s important to know where the at least P15 billion from the drug money goes.)
Asked when the DOJ would file a case against De Lima, he said, “Darating tayo dun pag yang airtight na nga yang kaso ko. Hindi lang si Senator De Lima kung sino man ang talagang probably guilty ay isasama namin (That time will come, when my case is airtight. Not only Senator De Lima but also those who are probably guilty would be included in the case).”
Aguirre said the DOJ must be ready with a strong case as he expects De Lima to hire the best lawyers to defend her.
“Hindi pa ako nagsasabing airtight yung kaso ko kasi yung aking case built up with respect to these banks records, bank accounts gusto kong ma connect, mai-link doon sa mga drug trading na kasangakot si Secretary De Lima (I’m not saying my case is airtight because it is built up with respect to these banks records, bank accounts, I want it to connect and link to the drug trading involving Secretary De Lima),” he said.
He said the PSG member who would testify at the House had been instructed by De Lima to deposit and withdraw money for her. The biggest withdrawal, he said, was P300,000.
“Pag nagde-deposit naka sobre, pag nag withdraw naka sobre. Binibigay na lang yung withdrawal na P300,000 (The deposits and withdrawals were placed inside the envelope. The P300,000 withdrawal was delivered),” Aguirre said.
Asked about the name of the account holder, he said they were still verifying it.
The justice chief said it seemed that there was an arrangement with the bank where the PSG man would just withdraw and deposit money without seeing the name of the account holder.
Asked if the money came from illegal drugs, Aguirre said: “Wala pa, yun yung ini-establish ko. Ang sinasabi ko lang inutusan nya yung isang PSG detailed security nya na mag deposit at mag withdraw at yung wini-withdraw nya mga P300,000 binibigay nya kay Secretary de Lima.”
(I’m still establishing it. All I’m saying is she instructed her PSG detailed security to deposit and withdraw and the withdrawals of P300,000 were given to Secretary de Lima.) RAM/rga
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