De Lima welcomes decision of House body

Sen. Leila De Lima. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO / RICHARD A. REYES

Sen. Leila de Lima on Monday welcomed the House justice committee’s decision not to recommend her for prosecution for alleged links to illegal drugs, saying it may have just been meant to shame her for criticizing President Duterte’s brutal war on illegal drugs.

“Of course, it’s good if that’s the case,” De Lima said when told about the committee’s decision.

“But remember, their inquiry was focused on me. So?” she said.

Mr. Duterte’s allies presented convicted drug lords and other criminals and even former National Bureau of Investigation officials as witnesses during the hearings.

Bilibid drug trade

The witnesses accused De Lima of receiving payoffs—and even imposing quotas—from convicted drug lords at New Bilibid Prison (NBP) during her term as justice secretary.

De Lima refused to face the inquiry, calling it a sham.

“They practically focused on me, and not really on the real problems at Bilibid. And now they’re saying they’re not gonna prosecute me or not gonna recommend to prosecute me. I don’t know, but until we see the report of the House committee and its recommendations, it’s hard to comment on that,” she said.

What’s the point?

“So what was the whole point of that inquiry? To shame me? They concentrated on personal matters to the point …  that they threatened to show the alleged sex video?” she said.

“So what was that all about? That’s why I was saying from Day 1, I wasn’t going to participate in that inquiry because I knew that the main objective of that is really just to vilify me,” she said.

During the inquiry, witnesses, including her own former aide, testified to De Lima’s alleged romantic entanglements, even describing in detail an alleged intimate act involving the senator.

She vehemently denied those claims as the witnesses’ allegations about her involvement in the NBP drug trade.