Robredo: Showing video will contribute nothing to Bilibid drug probe

MANILA, Philippines — Vice President Leni Robredo on Thursday said she is concerned at reports that the House Justice committee may show a video allegedly showing Sen. Leila de Lima "in an intimate act."

 

"As a former legislator, I fail to see how this will contribute to a substantial discussion of the issues being taken up," Robredo, former Camarines Sur representative said in a statement to the media. 

 

"As a lawyer, I believe that this act may be in violation of penal laws. And as a long-time advocate for human and women’s rights, I am profoundly disturbed by a proposal that amounts to the public shaming of a woman and the infliction of grave harm on her dignity as a human person," she also said.

 

She said that the illegal drug trade at the New Bilibid Prisons and the alleged involvement of De Lima and other former Department of Justice officials "has become a matter of great interest to the public, creating strong sentiments and generating passionate debate among our fellow Filipinos."

 

She said that this makes it critical for the House of Representatives "to keep the proceedings calm, sober, and objective as the investigation proceeds."

 

READ: Showing alleged De Lima video to derail House probe, Gabriela says

 

On Wednesday, House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez said that he would allow the video to be shown to members of the panel — the past hearings have been televised and covered by media — in the interest of finding the truth. He said that the video could help establish whether De Lima had a relationship with Ronnie Dayan, her former driver and alleged bagman for drug money. 

 

De Lima has denied being in the video and has said it is part of an attempt to discredit her for being a critic of the administration's war on drugs. Several members of the House, as well as President Rodrigo Duterte and Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II, have said that they have seen the video. 

 

"It is my earnest hope that all of us in public service, including my former colleagues in the House, do our utmost to maintain a rational and respectful level of discourse, with the same passion that we zealously pursue the truth," Robredo, the Liberal Party member in the highest elective position, said.

 

Earlier Thursday, Liberal Party senators Francis Pangilinan, Franklin Drilon and Bam Aquino also expressed opposition to showing the video.

 

"Regardless of the authenticity of the alleged videos, viewing it is disrespectful to a sitting senator, to her person, and to the office she holds, and is violative of the law," the senators, de Lima's party mates, said in a joint statement.

 

They said showing the video violates the Anti-Voyeurism Law, the Anti Wiretapping Law and the Revised Penal Code on Crimes against Honor.