Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II might “manufacture” evidences that would link Senator Leila de Lima to the illegal drug trade in the country, the senator herself said on Sunday.
“I am up against the belief that Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre can exhaust his powers and tap government resources to manufacture false evidence designed to link me to illegal drug trade,” De Lima stated.
This accusation by de Lima was after Aguirre announced that a subpoena will be issued against the lawmaker in connection to four separate complaints lodged against her with the Department of Justice. This is because of the senator’s alleged involvement to the illegal drug trade in the New Bilibid Prison.
The senator also emphasized that the Justice Secretary does not have “a license to abuse his authority to smear my reputation and slander my integrity.”
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De Lima further accused Aguirre of his “propensity for untruthful and thoughtless deceits” and “for feeding us with lies and deceits, and for resorting to fabrication and forgery.”
“All they are good at is to talk and lambast me in public… The more they speak, the more their lies are exposed,” De Lima added.
She said that ever since the administration started attacking her, any solid evidence that can prove their accusations against her have still not been provided. The government had only made “malicious conjectures and manufactures lies,” according the lawmaker.
Other personalities that have also been named in the various complaints are former Justice Undersecretary Francisco Baraan III, former Bureau of Corrections chief Franklin Jesus Bucayu, former BuCor officer-in-charge Rafael Ragos, De Lima’s former security aides Ronnie Dayan and Joenel Sanchez, and several inmates in the New Bilibid Prison such as Herbert Colanggo, Peter Co, and Jojo Baligad.
Allegations against Senator De Lima was her toleration of the drug syndicates inside the New Bilibid Prison in exchange for funds for her 2016 election campaign. These allegations had been repeatedly denied by the senator.
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The investigating panel that handles the complaints are composed of five personnel from the DOJ headed by Senior Assistant State Prosecutor Peter Ong. Other members of the panel are Senior Assistant City Prosecutors Alexander Ramos, Leila Llanes and Evangeline Viudez-Canobas and Assistant State Prosecutor Editha Fernandez.
According to Aguirre, the preliminary investigation results will be forwarded to the Office of the Ombudsman, the office which is mandated by the state to handle prosecutions against government officials and employees.
Source: (gmanetwork.com)
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