Alvarez to Leila: Why are you afraid to face accusers?

MANILA, Philippines – Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez expressed bewilderment at how Sen. Leila de Lima could refuse to cross-examine her accusers in the illegal drug trade if she was indeed confident of her innocence.

“If you’re not hiding anything, you won’t be afraid to face anybody; you should be able to face anyone,” Alvarez told reporters over the weekend.

 “She can always argue (about her innocence),” Alvarez said, noting De Lima’s refusal to ask questions or confront self-confessed drug lord, Rolando “Kerwin” Espinosa Jr. during a Senate hearing.

De Lima, a former justice secretary, merely said she was “forgiving” Espinosa for all the “lies” or sins he committed against her and that God would take charge of him for that.

 Espinosa, along with De Lima’s former driver-bodyguard-lover Ronnie Dayan, are expected to be at the Senate today for the resumption of hearing on the illegal drug trade in the national penitentiary.

 Alvarez said De Lima’s continuous refusal to face her accusers head on could only lead to more accusations against her that if unrebutted, could pin her down.

“It’s her credibility that is at stake. As I said, this is the first time for me to meet such kind of a person, she lies very well,” Alvarez said.

Alvarez, a lawyer like De Lima, reiterated De Lima was a serial liar as he refused to buy her alibi that she merely advised Dayan to ignore the House hearings and not directed him to do so.

 To date, De Lima has not presented a single witness in her favor amid her claims of being persecuted by the Duterte administration.

Arresting De Lima still an ‘option’

 While leaders of both chambers of Congress – the Senate and the House of Representatives – want to avoid a clash, arresting the defiant senator remains an “option,” according to Alvarez.  

 But he said it would depend on what Oriental Mindoro Rep. Reynaldo Umali, House justice committee chairman, would recommend.

The House justice committee ordered De Lima to show cause as to why she should not be held in contempt for supposed obstruction of justice for supposedly advising Dayan not to appear in the House inquiry on illegal drugs.

Aside from the arrest, among the legal options they have due to De Lima’s continued refusal to honor their show cause order, are to file a case before the Senate ethics committee and seek her disbarment before the Office of the Bar Confidant in the Supreme Court, the Speaker said.

 The last two options (ethics and disbarment) will “definitely” be done, but what other House leaders are more wary of is the manipulative or “scheming” nature of the former justice secretary, who might use the arrest warrant to elicit pity or portray herself as an underdog.

 “She does not want to (appear in the House) because she wants the people (to) sympathize with her… so that (she will) look oppressed when arrested,” Alvarez said, adding De Lima seemed to be really appealing for compassion from the public.

Although she can be arrested, Alvarez said in a CNN Philippines interview yesterday morning that “this person is very scheming so we also need to weigh scenarios.”

Alvarez said he would “decide” on the arrest as soon as the House justice committee makes such a recommendation.

 The Speaker said the scheming nature of De Lima could be demonstrated by the way she handled her illicit affairs with married men like Dayan, whom she later dumped for her Presidential Security Group aide Joenel Sanchez and then Metropolitan Manila Development Authority motorcycle escort Warren Cristobal.

The only reason that issuing a warrant for De Lima remains their last card is because both senators and congressmen want to avoid an unnecessary collision course only because a senator is standing her ground in refusing to show parliamentary courtesy.

 “If it can be avoided and the results of the appropriate actions will be good, then we’ll take that route,” Alvarez said, noting that they would just have to exercise all legal remedies available and make arrest warrant the last resort.

Not a drug lord

Meanwhile, Malacañang defended President Duterte from De Lima’s insinuation that he could be the top protector of drug lords in the country.

“I do not think and I do not believe and it has not crossed my mind that the President is what he is as you said,” Presidential Communications Secretary Martin Andanar said when asked about insinuations that Duterte could be a drug lord protector.

“The President is the president of the land and he is the number one protector of our laws in the land,” he added.

Last Saturday, De Lima said Duterte could be the “number one drug protector and coddler in the country” after the President admitted ordering the reinstatement of a police official implicated in the narcotics trade.

Superintendent Marvin Marcos was relieved as chief of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group in Eastern Visayas following the death of Espinosa’s father, Rolando Sr., the Albuera, Leyte mayor with alleged links to illegal drugs.

Marcos’ unit claimed that the elder Espinosa was shot dead inside his cell at the Baybay City sub-provincial jail in a shootout. Statements by some jail officers and inmates and some photos of the crime scene, however, indicate that the mayor could have been executed.

Espinosa’s son, who was arrested in Abu Dhabi last October, had named Marcos as one of the police officials who got millions in payola from him.

Despite the allegations that he benefited from the narcotics trade, Marcos was reinstated to his post supposedly “for humanitarian reasons.”

Philippine National Police chief Director General Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa said a friend or “kumpare” had called him to request the reinstatement of Marcos.

Citing an unnamed source, De Lima, who is also facing drug trafficking charges, said Duterte’s special assistant Christopher Go was the one who called Dela Rosa. Go has denied the accusation, calling it “baseless and unsubstantiated.”

On Friday, Duterte admitted ordering the reinstatement of Marcos, saying he was doing an “investigative job.”

Sen. Panfilo Lacson, a former police chief, said he was dismayed by Duterte’s action and scored the supposed double standard in his anti-drug campaign.

Malacañang respects the opinions of the senators with regard to Duterte’s admission, Andanar said.

He also said De Lima was entitled to her own opinion and would just let Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II respond to her.

With regard to Lacson’s statement, Andanar said the executive branch was taking it “just like any person who gets criticized objectively.”

“We take it openly, we will listen to him and we will also listen to our own (PNP) chief,” Andanar said.

Before the issue involving Marcos surfaced, Duterte threatened to kill suspected drug lord Peter Lim if the Cebu businessman were proven to be involved in the narcotics trade.

In a controversial meeting in Davao City last July, Duterte advised Lim to face his charges and to subject himself to an investigation. Rumors claiming that Lim and his family had left the country circulated but the businessman denied them and maintained that he was ready to prove his innocence.

Asked about the whereabouts of  Lim and why he is not being charged even if the younger Espinosa tagged him in the illegal drugs trade, Andanar replied: “I don’t have any update on Mr. Peter Lim... I would have to ask (the PNP chief)… to give us an update (today) during the Cabinet meeting.”