De Lima prepares charges vs Aguirre

MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Leila De Lima on Monday bared that her legal team is already preparing charges against Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II who she said is "unfit" to be in his position.

The cases are in connection with the alleged efforts of the justice chief to compel inmates to testify against her in Congress and the supposed special privileges enjoyed by these convicts while in detention at the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Custodial Center.

Aside from these cases, De Lima said they are also considering the filing of subornation of perjury and tampering of witnesses.

"In a few days, in several days. Ginagawa na po yan ng aking legal team. But we're filing also a complaint against Secretary Aguirre, unang-una dahil nga po doon sa pagpilit nila sa witnesses against me," De Lima said.

De Lima has always maintained that Aguirre coerced witnesses into testifying against her in the hearings of the House of Representatives in relation to her alleged drug links. De Lima is accused of receiving P80 million from drug lords inside the national penitentiary to finance her campaign kitty in last year's national election. 

"So matagal-tagal na ho akong pinoproject ng mga yan, kaya kasama ho yan sa magiging charges ko against Secretary Aguirre na subornation of perjury, tampering of witnesses, that is definitely an illegal act na hindi ho dapat ginagawa ng isang Secretary of Justice," De Lima said.

De Lima also chided Aguirre again for his statement that criminals and drug addicts are not part of humanity and labeled him as "unfit" to be justice secretary.

"Ang Secretary of Justice po ay siyang pinaka-Attorney General, siya yung pinaka-chief legal officer ng executive department. And therefore, he is expected to act and behave judiciously," De Lima said.

She continued: "Hindi po ganyan, biruin mo, yung mga ganoong statements niya, yung mga kriminal daw, yung mga drug addicts daw, mga drug users daw, are not part of humanity. Anong klaseng mentalidad yan? He is unfit to be in his position. "