Duterte plotted my ouster, says De Lima

Update

SENATOR  Leila  de Lima  immediately accused President Rodrigo Duterte  of masterminding her ouster  on Monday as chair  of the Senate committee on justice  investigating  the alleged  extrajudicial killings  under the current administration.

“Majority po ang nag-oust sa akin bilang chair ng committee on justice. Wala po akong duda na mayroong kinalaman  dyan ang ating Pangulo,”  De Lima said in a television  interview shortly  after she was removed as head of the committee.

“Bagamat nirerespeto ko po ang aking mga kasamahan, siguro po pwede kong  masabi na naiitindihan ko ang ginawa nila  pero uulitin ko po yun, imposible  po walang kinalaman dito ang ating Pangulo,” she added.

On Senator Manny Pacquiao’s motion, 16 senators voted  to declare  the  chairmanship  and the membership of the  committee vacant, only four voted against it while  two senators  abstained.

READ: De Lima ousted as Senate justice chair

 De Lima suspected that the President  got  angrier with her  after she presented during last week’s hearing  a witness, Edgar Matobato,  who had accused  Duterte of ordering the killings of enemies and criminals in Davao City  when he was still the mayor.

“Syempre tumindi lalo ang galit nya (Duterte). Talaga namang galit sa akin di ba? I mean, he was not  concealing  yung galit nya sa akin  when I started nga this  inquiry na binastos talaga ako ng husto, may mga (binato) sa akin na below the  belt, may mga statement like you’re finished,” she said.

“So itong mga ginagawa sa akin,  mukhang mga finishing touches yun para  sa kanya,” the senator added.

De Lima  admitted that she  was badly hurt that she was ousted chairman  although she would continue as a member of the committee.

“Talaga naman syempre hindi ko maitatanggi  na sobrang masakit  ang nararamdaman ko,” she said.

While  she  said she  understands that the House of Representatives   would investigate her  on her alleged drug links, De Lima said she was expecting that  her colleagues in the Senate, if they  could not   come to her  defense, would  not  add to  the  supposed pressure against her.

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