Duterte to De Lima: Avoid breakdown, take a break

MANILA, Philippines – Take a break.

This was President Duterte’s advice to his fierce critic Sen. Leila de Lima, whom he said is “breaking down” after she was accused of receiving millions from drug lords at the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) in Muntinlupa City.

“You know, I’d like to, in all sincerity, as a human being, I think honestly, I’m not trying to derogate her. She’s a lawyer. She’s bright. I think she’s breaking down,” Duterte told reporters yesterday at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 2.

“I would suggest that she takes days off. If she continues yakking there and listening to (allegations), she will have a nervous breakdown,” he added.

The interview with Duterte happened hours after De Lima challenged Duterte to arrest her if they have enough evidence to prove her supposed connections with drug lords.

During her press conference, the senator turned emotional over the alleged efforts of the administration to destroy her.

In a previous interview, De Lima asked Duterte to stop harassing her and even asked the President whether he fancies her because of the attention she is getting from him. When asked yesterday if he really fancies de Lima, Duterte acted as if he was about to fall from the podium.

When asked to comment on De Lima’s dare that she be arrested if the administration has enough evidence to pin her down, Duterte replied: “What will I do with her? Will I recommend her to Viva Films or to ABS-CBN?

“I think the most serious charge against her is the portals of the national government have been opened by her election as senator because of drug money. We are now a narco-politics,” the President said.

Duterte said 92 percent of barangays or villages in the country are affected by illegal drugs.

He claimed that about 11,000 policemen and 16,000 barangay chairmen are into the illegal drug trade.

“That is why I am not in favor of calling an election now (in the barangays). Drug money will flow down to the basic unit, the barangays and it will strengthen the hold of narco-politics existing in our country,” he said.

Stop hysterics

Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II said De Lima should just answer the accusations against her instead of making unsubstantiated claims.

Aguirre was reacting to De Lima’s claim that the witnesses who accused her of benefitting from the drug trade in NBP were tortured or paid.

Aguirre called on De Lima to stop the hysterics as they continued to trade barbs that escalated to personal attacks involving Aguirre’s supposed fake hair and De Lima’s alleged sex videos.

“If you become hysterical and scream like that, the people will not understand you,” Aguirre said in a press conference.

He was referring to De Lima’s outburst in her press conference in the Senate where she dared President Duterte to arrest her.

Aguirre urged De Lima to be lawyer-like in addressing the charges against her instead of publicly accusing the administration of coercing witnesses and fabricating evidence.

“If you make an accusation, there should be proof. Where is your proof that the inmates were tortured?” he told De Lima, referring to the high-profile inmates who testified against De Lima in the House of Representatives inquiry.

Aguirre also reiterated that the inmates led by convicted robbery gang leader Herbert Colanggo were not coerced to implicate De Lima in illegal drugs trade in NBP.

He also lamented the senator’s personal attacks, particularly on his use of a wig, which he explained is not in any way relevant to the issues at hand.

Aguirre vowed to be unfazed in the probe on allegations against De Lima, including the latest involving P300 million in missing cash from the contraband seized at the NBP during the December 2014 raid she led.

He showed to the media a six-page letter received by the Office of the President last August, which alleged that the missing money went to De Lima, who denied the allegation and claimed it was again concocted by the administration.

In a statement yesterday through the convicts’ lawyer Ferdinand Topacio, they said De Lima and her raiding team took millions in cash, expensive watches and jewelry from them during the raid.

“In spite of demands both written and verbal for the DOJ (Department of Justice) to return these items to the relatives of the inmates, we were roundly ignored by her,” the statement read.

From Colanggo’s cell alone, authorities had reportedly seized three vaults containing seven watches – five Rolex, one Philip Stein and one Cartier and various jewelry.

Authorities also discovered one Prada wallet with P5,000, Hermes with P10,000 and Louis Vuitton with P62,000 as well as $600 dollars and HK$23,000.

Topacio, Colanggo’s lawyer, also belied claims of De Lima that his clients threatened her after they were moved from the NBP to the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and eventually to Building 14.

The Presidential Security Group (PSG) denied yesterday De Lima’s claim that Sgt. Jonel Sanchez, her former bodyguard, was pressured to sign an affidavit that would link her to the illegal drug trade at the NBP.

“We have seen the press conference of Sen. De Lima and have come to our attention that she was informed by her asset that her former security aide, Sgt. Jonel Sanchez, was being forced to sign an affidavit,” PSG spokesman Lt. Col. Michael Aquino said in a press briefing.

“To date, he has not signed any affidavit to that effect,” he added.?Aquino said Sanchez has signified his interest to choose his own lawyer.

Sanchez was security aide of De Lima while she was justice secretary.

Sex video

Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez said yesterday he would allow the showing of the alleged sex video of De Lima in the next House hearing on the illegal drug trade at the NBP.

“If the showing is necessary to prove that she has personal relationship with her driver, I will allow it. Let the public judge if the relationship is true or not,” he said.

“She’s denying that she’s the one in that sex video, but she does not want to attend our inquiry to personally make a denial. If that were the case, then let the people judge if she is or is not in that video. I think that’s only fair,” he said.

He added that the House committee on justice, which is looking into the NBP drug trade, would not be violating any law or rules on propriety if it shows the supposed De Lima sex video.

Asked if he has watched it, Alvarez said, “No, and I don’t intend to. I just want to allow it because it is a material that would prove whether she has personal relationship with her driver or not.”

Senators rejected the plan of several congressmen to show the purported sex video of De Lima during a public hearing.

Sen. Panfilo Lacson said that he sees no probative value in showing the video in public because there would be no one who could authenticate its content.

Lacson said that showing a sex tape at a congressional hearing and on national television is “highly inappropriate.”

Senate President Pro Tempore Franklin Drilon urged Speaker Alvarez and Senate President Aquilino Pimentel III to discuss this issue before making any decisions regarding the playing of the video.

Sen. Joseph Victor Ejercito said that playing the video at the House is against the law, specifically Republic Act 9995 or the Anti-Photo and Video Voyeurism Act of 2009.

Pimentel, for his part, said that the Senate will not come out with an official stand on the issue, but as Senate president, he would issue a reminder to his fellow legislators “to be responsible for their actions, be sensitive to the sensibility, feelings and effect of our actions on the reputation of our fellow legislators.”

Stop probe

In the wake of yesterday’s stabbing incident at the NBP involving high-profile drug lords, Rep. Lito Atienza of party-list group Buhay asked the committee on justice to stop its inquiry.

“We have already gathered enough facts and testimonies to draft remedial legislation. Continuing the investigation would only further expose inmates to danger. Soon, they will all kill each other,” he said.

He said De Lima’s revelation that Sebastian was a government asset or informant led to his stabbing.

“His enemies will not stop until this guy Sebastian is killed,” he said.

He urged Aguirre to file charges against those responsible for the NBP drug trade. – With Edu Punay, Jess Diaz, Delon Porcalla, Rudy Santos