After merely hinting about a senator who had been implicating him to the alleged summary executions of suspected drug dealers, President Rodrigo Duterte finally revealed who the mystery senator was.
“You want to know the name? De Lima,” the president said, referring to Senator Leila De Lima as the mystery senator. He divulged this information during a press conference at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3 on Wednesday.
In naming who his senator-detractor was, he also shed light about the senator he had accused of immorality. Specifically, the senator was alleged to be having an affair with her driver.
Duterte had said then: “And here is a senator complaining. When one day I will tell you that her driver, who was also her lover, was the one also collecting money for her during the campaign.” Duterte had divulged this in his speech during the 115th PNP’s anniversary at the PNP Headquarters in Camp Crame.
“Here is an immoral woman… insofar as the wife of the driver is concerned, it’s adultery. Here is a woman who funded the house of her lover, and yet we do not say any complaint about it,” Duterte had added.
Moreover, Duterte had said, “(The) money came readily from drugs. The intercept between Muntinlupa (Bilibid Prison) and the driver were far beyond, making sure that somebody was involved.” In saying this, Duterte hinted about the lady-senator’s indirect involvement in the illegal drug trade in the country, probably as some kind of a beneficiary.
But Duterte later on softened his stance. “In fairness, I will never say here that the driver gave the money to her but from the looks of it, she has it.”
Duterte had said it was his duty as president of the republic to name names of even high officials involved in drug trafficking either directly or as protectors so the public would know. And even in the case of exposing De Lima as a beneficiary of drug lord payola (bribe money), Duterte likewise invoked his presidential duties in doing so.
[ads1]
“I can. Because it’s part of my duty. Okay naman ako (It’s okay with me). You want to know the name? De Lima.”
In the same speech during the police anniversary, Duterte said that investigations on the alleged summary executions were actually a welcome development. But he warned against how some people seemed to be blaming the syndicated killings on him and the PNP. Some reports had it that organized drug syndicates are out liquidating their own assets.
“But do not attribute the acts of… criminals upon my government,” Duterte lambasted his detractors.
The story would have ended there and then, with de Lima accusing Duterte of allegedly masterminding the summary killings and President Duterte accusing her of allegedly receiving payola.
But Duterte went further. In de Lima’s words, what Duterte did was “very foul.” The president accused De Lima on national TV of having an illicit relationship with her driver.
“Pareho po naman kaming propesyonal ng pangulo. Pareho kaming public servants so sana hindi na ho siya nagre-resort sa ganyan na foul means. To me that’s very foul (The president and I are both professionals, both public servants. So he shouldn’t have resorted to using such foul means),” she said in a controlled voice, obviously holding back tears in her eyes.
Asked what she felt the moment she heard about Duterte’s immorality issue against her, de Lima said: “It’s very surprising. Alam mo first reaction ko ngayon, ayoko na patulan ‘yan (You know what my first reaction is now? I won’t stoop to that level). It’s so foul. It’s character assassination,” said De Lima, but neither answered nor denied the allegation. “Ayaw ko talaga i-dignify ‘yan, (I don’t want to dignify that),” she stressed.
De Lima remarked that the president should “double check” information he used before making accusations. And this particular accusation, de Lima said, came at a very bad timing and smelled of an equally bad agenda. “I don’t know kung ano po agenda nila (what their agenda is) that they are resorting to character assassination. That is a very clear case of character assassination,” the senator said.
But De Lima vowed to continue the fight. “Hindi po (ako) matitinag (I won’t budge in),” she said, referring to the investigations she has started doing on the drug-related killings said to be secretly spearheaded by the Duterte administration.
“I did not expect the President to do that. Sa totoo lang (actually),” the senator added, referring to Duterte’s personal attacks against her, before refusing to answer any more queries from the media during a short interview.
Duterte, on the other hand, claimed De Lima started all this when, “she first investigated me in Davao for human rights violation. Before the press, entering the hotel lobby, she said: ‘I will prove that Duterte is connected with the DDS, Davao Death Squad.’”
“Akala niya siya ang conscience of the country… hanggang ngayon naghihintay ako niyan (She thinks she’s the conscience of the country… up to now I’m waiting for her to prove my guilt)… I kept quiet because you are a lady,” Duterte said.
Sources: (rappler.com, youtube.com, gmanetwork.com)
[ads3]
