De Lima warns Sueno of ‘agents of vengeance’ with ‘distorted’ facts

Sen. Leila de Lima (Photo from her Facebook page)

Sacked Interior Secretary Ismael Sueno has found an ally in detained Sen. Leila de Lima, who warned of what she called “agents of vengeance” feeding President Rodrigo Duterte lies and “distorted” facts.

“I feel sad,” De Lima said in a handwritten note on Wednesday. “I don’t really know the man. But I can only empathize with Sec. Sueno for the fate that suddenly befell him,”

“I instantly felt a sense of oneness with him when in asserting his innocence,” she added. “Sec. Sueno claims that the President was fed with ‘wrong information.’ Sounds eerily familiar, folks!”

Like Sueno, De Lima maintained her innocence – even after she had been charged and detained in Camp Crame for alleged involvement in the illegal drug trade.

She said someone close to her working at the Department of the Interior and Local Government had told her that the general sentiment among the rank-and-filers in the agency was that Sueno was a “sincere and honest public servant.”

“To them, those Sueno underlings are the villains,” she said.

But the senator believes that there are people in and out of government who project closeness to the president but “cleverly exploit his weakness and prejudices to their advantage.”

“Impelled by some insidious agenda, some of them, shady and underworld characters as they are purveyors of distorted facts and lies. I call some of them ‘agents of vengeance’,” she said. “Indeed, intrigues within the bureaucracy have been a bane to our society’s growth. Almost always, good men and women are the casualties. There must be a way to eliminate the scourge.” /atm