De Lima awaits DOJ summons on drug case

Senator Leila de Lima. GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE/INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

Sen. Leila de Lima will hold her punches until the Department of Justice (DOJ) acts on a criminal complaint linking her to the illegal drug trade filed by an anticrime group.

The DOJ is expected to summon De Lima and seven others to appear early this month at the start of preliminary hearings by state prosecutors to determine if there is probable cause to file charges against them in court.

“I will just wait for the summons and act accordingly,” De Lima said in a text message from Iriga City where she was spending the All Saints Day break with her family.

The complaint was filed by the Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption (VACC) based on testimonies of witnesses who accused De Lima of involvement in the drug trade at New Bilibid Prisons (NBP) when she was DOJ Secretary.

The VACC cited testimonies of former Bureau of Corrections (Bucor) officer in charge Rafael Ragos and NBP inmate Herbert Colanggo, who told a House of Representatives hearing that De Lima appointed officials to the national penitentiary as drug protectors and collected drug money to fund her senatorial bid.

Others expected to be called to the DOJ hearings are former Justice Undersecretary Francisco Baraan III, former BuCor Director Franklin Bucayu, De Lima’s former security aides Ronnie Dayan, Joenel Sanchez and Jose Adrian Dera, Bucayu’s former staffer Col. Wilfredo Ely and inmate Jaybee Sebastian.

De Lima has denied the allegations, saying she has nothing to do with the drug trade. She also expressed doubts on the DOJ’s impartiality, noting that Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II was among her chief accusers.

De Lima already has a legal defense team but has refused to reveal other details upon her lawyers’ advice.

She is also putting together a legal offensive against her accusers, including impleading no less than President Duterte before the Supreme Court.

Mr. Duterte, who has a long-running conflict with De Lima that started with her investigation of his human rights record as Davao City Mayor, was the first to bare drug allegations against de Lima.

Mr. Duterte’s allegations against the De Lima in August came after she initiated a Senate inquiry into the spate of killings under the President’s antidrug campaign. De Lima was removed as chair of the investigating committee halfway through the proceedings.