Department of Justice staff Edna “Bogs” Obuyes confessed that her affidavit denying that Senator Leila de Lima received millions was later turned into an affidavit pinning the senator down.
In a Facebook post on Thursday, September 1, she said that Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre called for her to come to his office.
She thought at first that she would be asked to sign a new contract only to be surprised upon seeing a Banco de Oro (BDO) bank receipt of 24 million, dated March and April 2014, and photos of her and de Lima together, taken when she was still working for the Commission on Human Rights.
“Nung pinatawag po ako sa loob ng office ni Sec. Aguirre masaya po akong pumasok sa akala kong pipirma po ako ng bagong contract. Pero laking gulat ko na ang inihain sa harapan ko ay bdo bank receipt amounting 24 million for the month of march and april 2014, kalakip ng mga pictures namin ni senator de lima,” Obuyes said in her post.
Before getting elected as senator, de Lima served as former justice secretary and human rights chair.
“At ang pangalan ko dun ay bogs c obuyes, na imposible ko namang gamitin yun dahil nickname ko lang po un,” Obuyes added, referring to the bank deposit receipts.
According to a news report by The Philippine Star, copies of bank transactions were distributed to journalists from a DOJ source on September 1, showing that Obuyes deposited P24 million into a BDO bank account under her name – Bogs C. Obuyes.
The document showed that alleged bank deposits were made on March 7, 2014 (P4.8 million), March 21, 2014 (P7.2 million), April 4, 2014 (P2.6 million), April 18, 2014 (P4.8 million), and April 24, 2014 (P4.6 million).
She also called for a stop in the tirades against de Lima and clarified the affidavit that she signed.
“Ang laman ng statement ko po ay puro pagtatanggi na walang katotohanan ang lahat. Pero bakit ang lumalabas ay against sen. De lima na ang statement ko,” Obuyes said.
De Lima continues to be the target of the current administration as they try to pin her down with allegations that she is a drug lord protector. The latest in the saga between the parties was Aguirre presenting witnesses proving that de Lima, along with former Justice Undersecretary Francisco Baraan III, allowed the illegal drug trade at the New Bilibid Prison to prosper under their watch.
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Witnesses were coerced, says de Lima
Among those that he confirmed to be witnesses were two DOJ employees, Obuyes and Jonathan Caranto. He said that these two signed affidavits implicating de Lima in the illegal drug trade in the Bilibid.
InterAksyon reported that in an interview on Thursday, Aguirre denied de Lima’s allegations that the DOJ staff were forced to sign the affidavit, insisting that they voluntarily subjected themselves to lie detector tests.
“There are affidavits already. And no one forced them to do so; (it was) voluntary. Because both of them wanted to clear their names,” Aguirre said.
De Lima earlier said that she knew beforehand that two of her former employees at the DOJ were coerced to sign affidavits stating that she ordered them to deposit millions of pesos of drug money in a bank account.
“They were being forced to say they have accounts with a deposit of certain millions. They are also being forced to admit that I was the one who told them to open that account were money from the drug lords, and drug convicts can course through. Jesus Christ!” de Lima told reporters at the sidelines of the Senate committee on public order’s inquiry into the Duterte administration’s war against drugs.
“As far as I know they did not succeed in having those two employees execute anything of that sort so why are they making it appear that they have signed affidavits? I don’t think that’s true. You better ask NBI (National Bureau of Investigation). I think that’s part of their psy-war to harass me,” the senator added.
De Lima and Caranto figured in Duterte’s drug matrix, along with de Lima’s former driver and bodyguard Ronnie Palisoc Dayan, whom Duterte accused to be the senator’s lover and bagman for drug money.
Aguirre said that Dayan helped Caranto find a job in the DOJ.
Obuyes and Caranto are receiving clerks at the DOJ.
Aguirre said that they are investigating the bank accounts linked to de Lima, but the senator insisted that those bank accounts were also fabricated.
“The alleged existence of the accounts, that’s a fabrication. I don’t think those two would have those accounts, (if that is so) instant millionaires nga sila. Number two, certainly that’s not my doing! I did not ask anyone to open an account for me. So what’s this, because they are proceeding with the House inquiry? Maybe they are in a panic because they knew they have nothing (to pin me down). So now they are doubling efforts to fabricate,” de Lima said.
The senator said that she is prepared to file perjury cases against government officials who would allow themselves to be used in linking her to the drug trade.
On when she would file the cases, she said “But if they would still continue to do it, then I will make them accountable for it in some future time. It’s useless to be filing at this point. Where will I file it? At the DOJ?”
Sources: (facebook.com, philstar.com, interaksyon.com)
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