De Lima to Alvarez: Stop judging me

MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Leila De Lima on Monday told House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez to stop judging her character, her first reaction to the revelation to the public that the House leader has an extramarital affair.

In a dispatch from Camp Crame, where she is detained on drug charges for her alleged involvement in the illegal drugs trade, De Lima said that she did not want to rub it in despite persistent requests for her comments on the controversy Alvarez has become mired in.

De Lima said that her only message for the speaker, one of her most vocal critics, was for him to stop perpetuating lies about her alleged connection to the trade of illegal narcotics in the country.

“I just have this message for the Speaker - Please stop judging me on my 'true character'. You don’t know me,” she said, adding that if he wanted to know her, the speaker should ask people who really knew her character.

“Just ask please people who do. So please desist from perpetuating the lies about my alleged drug links. The people who truly know me will tell you it’s an absolute nonsense,” the detained senator wrote.

Alvarez has been one of the most vocal and fiercest critics of De Lima.

In one congressional hearing into the senator’s alleged involvement in the illegal drugs trade at the New Bilibid Prison, Alvarez defended fellow representatives after they were severely criticized for asking Ronnie Dayan, the senator’s former driver and lover, highly personal questions about their relationship.

The speaker said in defending his colleagues last year: ““Yung pagka-babae, ito ang tanong ko sa kanila: Bakit hindi nila kinonsider yung asawa ni Ronnie Dayan? Babae yun! Sa tingin ko siya yung agrabyado dito. Yung paggamit ng mga subordinates mo, di ba sexual harassment yun?”

It was however recently revealed that Alvarez himself is involved in an extramarital relationship after he filed a corruption charge against Davao Del Norte Rep. Antonio Floirendo Jr.

It has been alleged that the complaint was filed because of an altercation last year between the two congressmen’s girlfriends. Alvarez has denied that this is the reason for his complaint.

The speaker has since admitted to having a girlfriend and to siring eight children by different relationships.

“Hindi na po, hindi na po. Ganito kasi yun para hindi na kayo mahirapan. Noong first marriage ko, meron kaming dalawang anak. Sa second, apat tapos meron pa, dalawa,” he explained in a radio interview last week.

De Lima said that she “courteously” denied to comment on the travails of the speaker, saying that it was not right to rub the issues in.

“I don’t feel right rubbing it in even as I note that many people esp. netizens have been boisterously expressing their thoughts on this scandal. I also note there is righteous indignation,” she said.

Her message for the speaker was: “I pray for the Speaker's peace of mind.”