Alleged ‘illicit affair’ now part of ethics case vs De Lima

Senator Leila de Lima. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO/LYN RILLON

Update

THE “immorality” issue raised against Senator Leila de Lima is now part of  the ethics complaint filed against  her  at the Senate, lawyer  Abelardo de Jesus disclosed on  Wednesday.

De Jesus  said he had submitted  a supplemental affidavit to the Senate  ethics committee being chaired by  Senate Majority Leader Vicente “Tito’ Sotto III to  include her  alleged “illicit affair” with  her former driver, Ronnie Dayan, based on  President  Rodrigo Duterte’s  previous pronouncements.

READ: Duterte: Duterte sexcapades led her to crime, drug payoffs

His original complaint  only contained  de Lima’s  alleged  involvement in the  illegal drug trade, which she vehemently denied.

“Nagdagag ako ng panibagong complaint, yung about  immorality. Sinama ko na rin yung sinasabi  ni President Duterte na meron syang elicit relationship sa kanyang driver. Yun ang sinama ko,”  the complainant told INQUIRER.net over the  phone.

“Tapos nagdagdag ako, nag-sign ako dun  sa supplemental  complaint —yung  circumstantial evidence kung bakit dapat bigyan ng due course  ng Senate ethics committee yung aking complaint,”  he said.

De Jesus said among the circumstantial evidence of De Lima’s alleged immorality was her initial reaction that she would not dignify the allegation.

“Hindi normal reaction yun. Under the rule of evidence, hindi normal yun sa isang taong not innocent. Tapos sinabi ko rin na parang  nag-i stonewall sya…Tapos may sinabi pa syang snippets of truth. That’s the first circumstantial evidence,” he said.

De Lima was emotional when she first learned of Duterte’s personal attack against her last month, calling her an “immoral woman” for allegedly having an affair with her former driver.

“Somebody told me that just now. It’s very surprising. My first reaction now [is] I don’t want to dignify that,” she said in an interview.

“It’s so foul, it’s character assassination. We are both professionals, the President and I. We are both public servants. I hope he doesn’t resort to those foul means. To me, that’s very foul,” she added.

De Jesus said the next  circumstantial evidence was  de Lima’s alleged  statement  that  Dayan had long been separated  from his wife.

“May sinabi pa sya na  si Ronnie matagal  nang hiwalay sa asawa yan e wala  namang nagtatanong sa kanya  ng question na yun. Bakit nya sinabi yun? So sinabi ko sa aking supplemental complaint  na parang direct admission yun ng kanilang  relationship,” de Jesus said

He said another circumstantial  evidence was about the source  of money  allegedly used by De Lima’s’ driver  to  buy his own  house.

“Dapat tinanong nya si Dayan, saan ba nanggaling yang sources mo at nakapagpagawa ka ng ganyang bahay? Kahit ba driver-body guard ba yan e,” the complainant  said.

Asked if he had  personal knowledge about all the allegations in the complaint,  de Jesus said: “Maliwanag naman   sa complaint   ko , wala akong personal  knowledge.”

“Base lahat dun sa ano (speech) ni President Duterte pero dun sa events afterwards,   after the Duterte  statement, doon ako nagbabase, yung mga circumstantial evidence ko, yun ang pinagbasehan ko,”  he said.

The complainant said it would now be up to   the committee to request the evidence from the President, saying he had  “no right to produce” it.

De Jesus also insisted that   the committee has jurisdiction   over the  complaint against  De Lima, noting that one of the charges  involves the  issue of  her alleged immorality.

“Di  ba may mayroong doctrine na every civil servant, whether officer or an employee,  must  be of good  moral  character ? So inconsequential kung kelan ginawa  yung mga offenses whether as senator or prior. Ang pinag uusaan dito yung  good moral character ng tao e,” he pointed out.

If summoned, de Jesus said he  is willing to face the  Senate ethics  body

Inquirer.net tried but failed to get de Lima’s reaction to the immorality issue that de Jesus had added to his ethics complaint against her.

De Lima had repeatedly denied though the allegations in previous interviews.

In one of the interviews, she made a bold statement: “I’m willing to resign. I’m willing to be shot in front of the President if there is real, I just have to qualify, real evidence—not coerced, not manufactured, not fabricated, not invented.” RAM/ac

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