Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre on Tuesday said the testimonial evidence gathered against Sen. Leila de Lima were more than enough, but added that he has yet to build a stronger case to prove his predecessor’s alleged involvement in the illegal drug trade in the New Bilibid Prison (NBP).
In an INQ&A interview, Aguirre said he was working on alleged links of De Lima’s bank accounts to transactions of drug syndicates operating in the national penitentiary. He earlier said the Anti-Money Laundering Council had submitted documents supposedly showing transactions of P500 to P100 billion that may have ended on De Lima’s accounts.
“Sobra-sobra na ‘yung testimonial [evidence] pero ang training ko kasi bilang isang litigator ‘di ako nagfa-file ng kaso nang hindi malakas sa lahat ang aspect. Actually sapat na ‘yung testimonial evidence pero gusto ko buuin ang pag-link ng bank accounts para palakasin pa yung kaso ko,” Aguirre said.
The House of Representatives justice committee on Monday wrapped up its probe into the proliferation of drugs in the NBP, which saw witnesses tagging De Lima as alleged recipient of drug money for her campaign kitty.
But aside from testimonies, Aguirre said what needed to be strengthened more is the documentary evidence.
He said he did not set a timetable for himself in filing a case against De Lima, but added that he was hoping to finalize a strong case before the year ends.
“Sana be patient sapagkat pinapakalakas ko pa, nagbi-build up pa ko ng documentary evidence. Walang akong timetable na binigay sa sarili hanggat [hindi ko napapalakas] yung kaso. We’re in the process dahil tuloy ang pabibigay ng AMLA sa aming bank accounts so before the year ends baka makabuo na kami,” he said.
The Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption on Tuesday filed drug charges against De Lima and several others, including high-profile inmate Jaybee Sebastian, for alleged conspiracy over drug trade in the major prison facility.