Colanggo claims discussing bribes with De Lima on DOJ-issued phone
September 20, 2016 | 8:55pm
MANILA, Philippines -- The mobile phone number that a convict told lawmakers Tuesday that he used to coordinate with then Justice Sec. Leila De Lima matched the number saved on a House member's phonebook.
Herbert Colanggo, convicted for drug trafficking and robbery and an inmate at the New Bilibid Prisons told members of the House Justice committee the alleged cellphone number De Lima, now a senator, allegedly used to contact him through her bodyguard Jonel Sanchez.
The panel held the first of a series of hearings into the alleged proliferation of illegal drugs at the NBP during De Lima's tenure as Justice secretary. The Bureau of Corrections, which runs the country's penitentiaries, is under the Department of Justice.
Colanggo said he was able to talk with De Lima in the second week of January 2014 when Sanchez went to to the NBP to relay new instructions from Ronnie Dayan, De Lima's former driver and bodyguard.
He said that he wanted to confirm the orders from Sanchez, as well as to make sure that the P3 million he claimed to have been giving to De Lima through Sanchez had been received. He said that he had been sending the money every month since October 2013.
De Lima has repeatedly denied involvement in the illegal drug trade and has pointed out that it was during her term as Justice secretary that regular raids for contraband were conducted at the NBP.
Capiz Rep. Fredenil Castro was skeptical that Colanggo was able to get De Lima's number. The witness clarified that it was Sanchez who gave him De Lima's number.
"Call the telephone number, and we will see who will answer,"Castro suggested.
Cebu Rep. Gwendolyn Garcia later said that upon checking the number, she discovered that it matched De Lima's number, which was saved in her mobile phone's contact list.
Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II, whom the House Justice panel allowed to ask witnesses direct questions, later confirmed that the mobile phone number was the same as the official number that the Department of Justice issued De Lima when she was secretary.
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