De Lima: DOJ has no business to probe me

MANILA, Philippines - Sen. Leila de Lima said the Department of Justice (DOJ) has no business conducting any kind of investigation against her, especially after what transpired in the hearings conducted by the House of Representatives.

In a statement, De Lima said Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II has prejudged any case that might be filed against her before the DOJ and as such, he cannot be a “complainant, preliminary investigator and public prosecutor” all at the same time. 

De Lima reiterated that any prosecution against her could only be made by the Office of the Ombudsman, whose mandate is to conduct fact-finding and preliminary investigation on alleged wrongdoings by public officials with salary grades 27 and above. 

“The Department of Justice no longer has any business conducting any kind of investigation, whether fact-finding or preliminary, on the matter, especially after the performance of its role in the House hearing as the primary complainant against me,” De Lima said.

“Whatever ‘Lord Duterte’ says in his desire to see me rot in jail mainly because of my supposed crime of attacking them, influential and abusive people in office, when I was at the Commission on Human Rights and DOJ, perhaps, there are still public servants and institutions that I can still count on to give fair judgment in the interest of justice,” she added in Filipino.

Speaking with reporters the other day in China, President Duterte said De Lima would rot in jail for her involvement in the illegal drug trade.