De Lima cries foul over ‘continuing demonization’

MANILA, Philippines — Detained Sen. Leila de Lima slammed yesterday what she described as her continuing and relentless demonization and persecution as the Senate Blue Ribbon committee dug up her cases in the course of its inquiry into corruption in the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor).

She said the committee hearing on Thursday on the controversial convict releases under the Good Conduct Time Allowance (GCTA) Law was “Part 3” of her persecution, with “Part 1” being the House inquiry into the drug trade at the New Bilibid Prison (NBP), and “Part 2,” the filing of what she said were trumped up drug charges.

“This is so wrong and sordid!” De Lima said in a statement issued from her detention cell at Camp Crame.

She said “certain senators” at the hearing “practically acted as the handlers of these ‘resource persons’ and showing utter disrespect, if not contempt of, a jailed colleague, succeeded in foisting upon the proceedings the recycled and enhanced lies of Ragos and Ablen about me.”

The senator was referring to former Bureau of Corrections officer-in-charge Rafael Ragos and his deputy, Jovencio Ablen, who testified against her in the drug cases, and spoke before the committee regarding irregularities at the NBP when she was still justice secretary.

De Lima lashed out at Sen. Richard Gordon, chairman of the committee, “for irresponsibly proffering his theory” that she had used the GCTA Law to raise funds from convicted inmates for her senatorial campaign in 2016.

She said it is irresponsible for Gordon to accuse her of deliberately committing what he called “an honest mistake” in crafting vague implementing rules and regulations (IRR) for the GCTA Law to raise campaign funds in exchange for the prisoners’ freedom.

“I take serious offense at Gordon’s arrogance and impudence to even insinuate that I benefited from the Good Conduct Time Allowance Law without substantiating it with any corroborating testimonial or documentary evidence,” she said.

She also took issue at the fact that it was Gordon who read out the testimonies of Ragos and Ablen.

“These testimonies are, I repeat, false and malicious imputations of two witnesses who do not have any credibility at all. Ragos and Ablen, lest we forget, have confessed to their involvement in anomalous activities within BuCor/NBP and had to save their own skin through their lies about me,” De Lima said.

“They also have an axe to grind after failing to get their desired positions when I was justice secretary,” she added.