Why is her ex-lover now linking her to an alleged Leyte drug lord, saying Senator De Lima received money from Kerwin Espinosa through him?
“It appears that Ronnie Dayan has been successfully turned into another one of my accusers by this administration,” Senator Leila de Lima said in a statement on Wednesday, November 23. Prior to this, De Lima has been hinting on a coerced confession from her driver, Dayan, by government once he falls into their hands.
Ronnie Dayan, De Lima’s former driver, bodyguard and lover, admitted his 7-year relationship with the senator and her supposed connection with alleged Leyte drug lord Kerwin Espinosa. After his reported “arrest” by police in La Union on Tuesday, Dayan revealed how he received money from Espinosa for her lady boss.
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However, De Lima denied this as she had always done so about getting any money from anybody connected with illegal drugs. She claimed she even doesn’t know Espinosa.
“Absolutely untrue,” Senator Leila de Lima reacted to her former driver and bodyguard’s statement that she had received money from Kerwin.
“Ronnie’s claim is absolutely untrue. I don’t know Kerwin and neither does Ronnie. He knows that,” the senator said in a text message to news reporters. Moreover, De Lima claimed that Ronnie Dayan was just coerced or forced to tell lies against her.
For one, De Lima said Dayan was no longer working for her at the time she was supposed to have received money from Kerwin. Secondly, she cited mixed up news reports of when exactly she was said to have received the money. Some said it was from October to December of 2015. Others said it was in 2014.
“If 2015, hindi ko na tao si Ronnie,” [If they say it was in 2015, Ronnie was no longer my employee] De Lima said.
“So how could I have ordered him to get money from Kerwin? Kaya lang, syempre, and as expected, napilitan na rin si Ronnie magsinungaling,” [However, as surely expected, Ronnie had no choice but to lie] the senator added.
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During a press conference given at the House of representatives on Tuesday night, Dayan said he received money from Kerwin a total of five times for De Lima while she was justice secretary.
“I received money from Kerwin. I received money as instructed by Ma’am. She was still justice secretary at the time,” Dayan said.
However, De Lima’s former driver denied receiving money for the senator from anyone else. Much less from inmates in the New Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa at that time.
Source: (newsinfo.inquirer.net, rappler.com)
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