De Lima given up to Dec. 21 to answer drug raps
DOJ’s first preliminary investigation on case against Sen. De Lima and others./Tetch Torres-Tupas, INQUIRER.net
The Department of Justice (DOJ) gave Senator Leila de Lima and other respondents in four complaints related to the illegal drug trade inside the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) up to Dec. 21 to respond.
During the first preliminary investigation, only seven respondents failed to appear or send their representatives before the DOJ.
The preliminary investigation was intended for the respondents to get copies of the complaints.
Respondents who failed to appear before the DOJ or send a representative were inmates Vicente Sy, Peter Co, Jaybee Sebastian and Jojo Baligad; Julius Rejuso, alleged bagman of former Justice Undersecretary Francisco Baraan; former Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) Director Reinier Cruz and Ronnie Dayan, De Lima’s former driver and boyfriend.
De Lima’s representative, Romeo Siazon, who arrived minutes after the preliminary investigation had ended, was able to obtain copies of the complaints after he provided the DOJ panel led by Senior Assistant State Prosecutor Peter Ong with a letter of authorization from the senator.
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Letter of Authority given by Sen. De Lima to her staff/Tetch Torres-Tupas
On Dec. 21, all respondents, including De Lima, are required to appear personally before the DOJ to subscribe to their counter-affidavits.
The Bilibid inmates, including Herbert Colanggo, will subscribe to their affidavits at the Intelligence Service Armed Forces of the Philippines (ISAFP).
The four drug complaints were filed by the Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption (VACC); former National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) deputy directors Reynaldo Esmeralda and Ruel Lasala; high-profile inmate Jaybee Sebastian; and the NBI.
READ: VACC files supplemental complaint vs De Lima before DOJ
De Lima’s co-respondents include Sebastian, Baraan, Rejuso, Cruz, former Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) Director Franklin Jesus Bucayu, De Lima’s former aide Joenel Sanchez, Dayan, De Lima’s nephew Jose Adrian Dera, NBI Deputy Director Rafael Ragos; former NBP Superintendent Richard Schwarzcopf Jr., NBI agent Jovencio Ablen Jr., Bucayu’s alleged bagman Wilfredo Elli, Baraan’s former subordinate Jesusa Francisco, De Lima’s secretary Lyn Sagum, and De Lima’s other alleged bagman only known by the alias Georg.
Others named in the complaints are convicted criminals and NBP inmates Sebastian, Colanggo, Engelbert Durano, Vicente Sy, Wu Tuan Yuan alias Peter Co, and Baligad. IDL/rga
