Duterte tells De Lima to resign for failing to get CA nod

Davao Mayor Rodrigo Duterte. FILE PHOTO

COMPOSTELA VALLEY, Philippines – Mayor Rodrigo Duterte called on Justice Secretary Leila de Lima to resign out of “delicadeza,” first, for failing to arrest the person allegedly behind the large-scale smuggling operation in the country, and second, for failing many times to get the concurrence of the Commission on Appointments for her appointment.

He said that unlike elected officials, De Lima’s appointment to the Department of Justice (DOJ) needed a concurrence by Congress’ Commission on appointment, which she failed to get so many times.

“If you’ve been rejected, by delicadeza, you should resign,” Duterte said, saying that De Lima also failed to do what was expected of her in the large-scale smuggling case that reportedly robbed the country of P7 billion a year.

“Until now they are still agonizing which name for what person?” he asked, referring to the unsettled allegation that businessman Davidson Bangayan was actually the suspected rice smuggle David Tan.

“Until now? And they have to wait for the Senate to provide them information? Unsay pulos sa (what’s the use of the) Department of Justice?” he added.

“You are there for a long time and you have not solved smuggling until now, and we are losing P7 billion a year, that is a crime and that is criminal negligence on their part, how many years she’s been there?” the mayor said.

He also said that maybe, De Lima did not know it was he (Duterte) who produced the picture of David Tan before the businessman presented himself to the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), a picture later presented to the Senate.

“Siguro, di alam ni De Lima, galing kay Duterte iyon, produced by the intelligence community (Perhaps, De Lima did not know I was the one who gave the picture of Tan’s face produced by the intelligence community),” he said, adding, all they (DOJ) had was Tan’s IDs and other documents.

“I told the intelligence community, give me the face of that David Tan they are saying, and that was how an intelligence unit produced the picture,” he said.

Duterte also said the failure of the DOJ to arrest the suspect, despite the presence of the two pleadings that allegedly linked Davidson Bangayan to David Tan, has led one to suspect the strong influence of smuggling protectors not only in the Bureau of Customs (BOC) but within the DOJ, itself.

He said the two testimonies could already be a ground for arrest because under Philippine laws, such an admission would be tantamount to an offense, called the “illegal use of alias.”

“They should have made arrest right then and there,” he said.

“Why until now, they’re still agonizing about the identity of Tan or Bangayan? It’s not important how many names he uses, as long as they have established his identity, the length of time that they’ve acted upon the case makes one suspect there are also smuggling protectors within the DOJ,” he added.

He also dared Commission on Human Rights chairperson Loretta “Etta” Rosales to file a case against him before the Ombudsman for threatening to kill rice smugglers.

“File the case and I will face them,” he said.

“Kami, pinili ng tao, (We were elected by the people), find acceptance from the people through the elections,” Duterte said.

“But they— both Rosales and De Lima—were appointed; and De lima’s appointment has been bypassed so many times.”

“The power of the president to appoint is absolute but the law in the Constitution defines that it is subject to the concurrence of the Commission on Appointment and … De Lima, has been bypassed so many times,” he said,

“By delicadeza, umalis na sya diyan (she should step down),” Duterte said.

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