Senator Leila de Lima. KIMBERLY DELA CRUZ/INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
“I am not a slut,” Senator Leila de Lima said on Friday amid continued personal attacks against her.
“I am not a bad and evil woman or a slut they are trying to portray the past few weeks,” De Lima said when she spoke before students and faculty members at Miriam College in Quezon City.
“I have not partied with or slept with any drug convict,” she said.
As a human being, De Lima admitted that she had flaws as she had made mistakes in her personal life.
READ: De Lima admits ‘flaws,’ but insists drug accusations false
But the senator said she had never betrayed the country as what her detractors were trying to make people believe.
“Yes as a human being, as a woman, I have frailties, I have weaknesses, I’ve certain flaws,” she said.
“As a woman, I made mistakes in my personal life. And I’ve always considered my personal life as a private matter, it’s a sacred thing to me but now they are intruding and encroaching into my privacy.”
READ: De Lima laments being portrayed as ‘paid sex worker’
“Yes I made mistakes and when I do make mistakes in my personal life, I pick up the pieces and move on. But never did I betray my country,” De Lima added.
The senator said she was afraid that some people might have started to believe the “relentless, vicious” attacks being launched by the “most powerful man in this country.”
She was apparently referring to President Rodrigo Duterte who has not only accused her of involvement in illegal drugs but also of having an affair with her former aides.
READ: Duterte: De Lima ‘screwing’ not only driver but also the nation
De Lima has repeatedly denied the allegations. IDL/rga