De Lima hits reinstatement of Ragos to NBI post

Sen. Leila de Lima. (File photo from the Philippine Daily Inquirer)

MANILA, Philippines — Detained Sen. Leila de Lima on Tuesday lambasted the reported reinstatement of Rafael Ragos as deputy director of the National Bureau of Investigation, claiming it was a “reward” from President Rodrigo Duterte for testifying against her.

Ragos, who was sacked from the NBI in 2016, had claimed during a Senate inquiry that he personally delivered P5 million to De Lima’s residence allegedly as protection money from drug lords, an allegation that she had vehemently denied.

The senator, who had been detained since 2017 over what she claimed were trumped-up drug charges, said she was informed that Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra had designated Ragos to his former post.

“I am sure the old-timers and honest officials and agents at the NBI don’t like having Ragos around their office once again,”De Lima said in a handwritten dispatch from her detention cell at Camp Crame.

De Lima, the President’s fiercest critic, insisted that Ragos knew that the testimonies he made against her were “a big lie.”—Marlon Ramos