Normal life will be elusive for Dayan back home

Driver/bodyguard Ronnie Dayan arrives at the Congress during the hearing on illegal drug trade in National Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa City. INQUIRER PHOTO / NIÑO JESUS ORBETA

URBIZTONDO, PANGASINAN—It will take time before Ronnie Dayan, the former driver and lover of Sen. Leila de Lima, can return to a normal life in this town.

Dayan, 44, who testified that he had received money from a drug lord allegedly on instructions from De Lima, then justice secretary, arrived at the Pangasinan provincial police headquarters in Lingayen town at 10:30 p.m. on Thursday but he did not return to his house here.

Instead, Dayan was taken to an undisclosed safe house by a team of policemen tasked to protect him after he testified in a House inquiry into alleged drug trafficking in New Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa City.

Accompanied by the congressional sergeant at arms, Roland Detabali, Dayan underwent a medical checkup before he was interviewed by the police’s legal officer.

He was allowed to rest for a few hours before officers escorted him out at 2 a.m. on Friday, said Senior Supt. Oliver Lee, Pangasinan police director.

Dayan was discharged from the House of Representatives and placed under police custody when he asked for protection.

“It will take time before he can go back to farming or to cockfights and drinking with his friends,” said Chief Insp. Joshua Maximo, Urbiztondo police chief.

During the House committee hearing on Thursday, Dayan, who bred fighting cocks in Barangay Galarin here, said he used to bet as much as P11,000 during cockfighting derbies.

“He has threats to his life. We cannot discount the fact that he has threats and he knows that, although he does not know exactly where these are coming from,” Lee said.

“Because of the situation he is in, the threat is high and many are interested to keep him quiet,” he said, adding that he would “protect Dayan at all cost while he is under my custody.”

In Barangay Galarin, Dayan’s return did not seem to excite residents.

A resident said the village had attracted too much media attention in the past two months and might get more if Dayan would come home.

Dayan, a brother and a sister are the only ones staying in Galarin. Other family members, who are all professionals, have settled in Metro Manila and nearby towns.

Maximo said Dayan, a high school graduate, used to be a jeepney driver, a security guard and a family driver before De Lima hired him.

He has four children—two boys and two girls. His neighbors in Galarin described him as a “good man who has not harmed anyone.”

“He was always ready to help,” a neighbor said.

Dayan returned to Pangasinan with his wife, Neneng, his children and other family members.

Dayan confirmed at the House inquiry that he had a seven-year romantic affair with De Lima, which he first hid from his wife.

Dayan and his wife talked casually and even teased each other during the trip to Pangasinan, Lee said.

“He is OK, he is no longer suffering from arthritis and he is always smiling,” he said.

According to Lee, Dayan was surprised by the questions asked by the lawmakers.

“He said he still had plenty of information to reveal. But I did not press him on the issue,” Lee said.

Dayan would need Lee’s permission should he want to leave the safe house.

His family and relatives, however, could visit him anytime although they were given guidelines to ensure Dayan’s security. —GABRIEL CARDINOZA AND YOLANDA SOTELO