De Lima denies Dayan claim on drug money

Senator Leila De Lima during the Committee on Public Order and Dangerous Drugs Joint with the Committee on Justice and Human Right probe on killing Albuera Mayor Rolando Espinosa Sr. at the Session Hall of Senate, Pasay City. INQUIRER PHOTO / RICHARD A. REYES

Sen. Leila de Lima on Wednesday dismissed as “absolutely untrue” a claim by her former driver, bodyguard and lover, Ronnie Dayan, that he received money for her from confessed drug lord Kerwin Espinosa.

Following his arrest on Tuesday for snubbing a congressional hearing, Dayan told reporters in the House of Representatives that he collected money on De Lima’s behalf from Espinosa when she was justice secretary five times in 2014.

“Ronnie’s claim is absolutely untrue. I don’t know Kerwin, and neither does Ronnie,” De Lima said. “Ronnie was no longer [working for me] during the time he said he took or gave money.  So how could I have ordered him to get money from Kerwin?”

President Duterte has accused Dayan and De Lima of involvement in the illegal drug trade in New Bilibid Prison.

High-profile drug lords testified in the House justice committee hearings last month that they raised money for De Lima’s senatorial campaign in return for protection and that Dayan was her bagman.

Dayan on Tuesday admitted he had an affair with De Lima for seven years. He said the last time he had a conversation with her was shortly before the May elections and that she thanked him for his support. De Lima had earlier confirmed the affair, citing the “frailties of a woman.”

“But, of course, as expected, Ronnie was forced to lie against me,” she said in a text message on Wednesday.

“It appears that Ronnie Dayan has been successfully turned into another one of my accusers by this administration,” De Lima said.

“Nevertheless, I welcome this as an opportunity to clear my name as soon as all these fiction stories of the underworld are weaved into a complete but grotesque tapestry and finally filed before a court of law, where I can properly defend myself, hopefully this time without the fanfare and the drama of my persecution before the media,” she said.

She said she was ready to prove her innocence “before the proper forum.”

“Even as they portrayed Ronnie Dayan as the missing link to their drug conspiracies, his arrest and so-called admissions yesterday present an opportunity for me to put this issue to a close,” De Lima said.