THE National Bureau of Investigation has filed drug, bribery and graft charges against Senator Leila de Lima and 17 others over allegations that they encouraged and benefitted from the illegal drug trade inside the New Bilibid Prison.
The charges, filed before the Justice department, come after almost two months of investigation.
De Lima, a former Justice secretary, was also accused of violating An Act Punishing the Receiving and Giving of Gifts of Public Officials and Employees (Presidential Decree 46) and Section 7 of the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees (Republic Act No. 6713).
The others were charged with direct bribery and violations of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act and the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees.
Charged were former Bureau of Corrections chief Franklin Jesus Bucayu; former Justice Undersecretary Francisco Baraan III; former Bucor officer-in-charge Rafael Ragos; De Lima’s former security aide and Presidential Security Group Member Joenel Sanchez; De Lima’s former driver and bodyguard Ronnie Dayan; Ragos’ close-in aide and NBI agent Jovencio Ablen Jr.; Bucayu’s alleged bagman Wilfredo Elli; DoJ employee Jesusa Francisco; De Lima’s personal assistant during her DoJ stint, Lyn Sagum; a certain Julius Rejuso; and an alias George.
High-profile inmates were also included in the charge sheet, specifically in relation to the sale and distribution of illegal drugs.
They were identified as Jaybee Sebastian, Herbert Colanggo, Engelbert Durano, Vicente Sy, Wu Tuan Yuan alias Peter Co, and Jojo Baligad.
The NBI based its complaints on sworn statements, documents, and testimonies of various resource persons, including inmates, who took part in the inquiry of the House of Representatives on the issue.
The complaints will likely be consolidated with two others pending before a five-man panel of prosecutors formed by Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II.
De Lima has repeatedly denied all the allegations.
She also denied that she was a protector of drug syndicates inside the NBP in exchange for funds for her 2016 election campaign.
De Lima accused the government, whom she criticized for its bloody war on drugs, of fabricating evidence and coercing witnesses to testify against her.
The NBI alleged that De Lima started receiving drug money as early as 2012.
“It is evident from the revelations of numerous witnesses as detailed in their sworn affidavits that herein subject Senator Leila De Lima and the other government officials in the complaint were fully aware of the unlawfulness of their actions yet, still actively conspired with their superiors,” the complaint stated.
“[The probers] could not possibly fathom the idea that upon the culmination of the raid, Jaybee Sebastian, regarded by numerous personalities as the most powerful and influential drug lord inside NBP was peacefully left to himself inside his ‘kubol’ without so much as a cursory search,” the complaint said.
“These circumstances only cement the allegations propounded against her that Jaybee Sebastian, the figurative goose that lays the golden eggs, enjoyed her protection,” the complaint added.
In a press conference in the afternoon, Aguirre II revealed that the latest NBI complaint would be consolidated with the three earlier complaints.
He also said the Justice department would issue a subpoena to De Lima and other respondents either today or early next week to require them to answer the charges.
De Lima on Thursday said she is no longer surprised by what she said were trumped-up charges.
“Like their propensity for manufacturing lies, the filing of charges is fast becoming a bad habit for them. They just wont quit until they destroy me,” she said.
“It was very clear from the very start that the evidence leveled against me in almost all forums has always been manufactured, fabricated, and the product of fantasists,” said De Lima.
“Even the testimonial and documentary evidence presented during the House hearing on which the NBI has based its charges has shown nothing but fantastic lies and fairy tales linking me to the drug trade.
“At the risk of sounding like a broken record, I repeat that I stand by my innocence because I only speak the truth. I shall in the proper time confront my accusers before the proper venue,” she added.
De Lima faced new woes, however, as a police official testified before the Senate that she received P8 million from drug lord Kerwin Espinosa.
In the presence of De Lima, Chief Inspector Jovie Espenido, police chief of Albuera, Leyte, said Espinosa handed De Lima the money at Dampa Restaurant, SM Mall of Asia in Pasay City.
Espenido said his testimony was based on the statement given to them by Kevin, son of the slain Albuera, Leyte Mayor Rolando Espinosa Sr. and brother of Kerwin.
De Lima did not object when the Senate committees on public order and dangerous drugs, and justice and human rights, Senators Panfilo Lacson and Richard Gordon, respectively, proposed to reveal the names in the slain mayor’s sworn statement.
“I don’t mind that you disclose that because I know that my name is in the number one [position on] list if we are to believe the announcement of Secretary Aguirre,” De Lima said.
Espenido said not only the slain mayor, but even his family members, attested that De Lima had met and even talked for more than 20 minutes to Espinosa’s son and suspected drug lord Kerwin at Burnham Park in Baguio City. He said the Espinosa family even took a picture with De Lima.
Presiding over the hearing, Lacson said that politicians are usually approached by people who want to have a picture taken with them.
Espenido revealed that Kevin had executed an affidavit, claiming that he gave P8 million to De Lima at a restaurant in Pasay City.
Lacson said it was crucial that the younger Espinosa be given adequate security as he is moved from the United Arab Emirates, where he was arrested, to the Philippines.
Espinosa was arrested last month in Abu Dhabi after some overseas Filipino workers tipped off authorities about his presence. He is still detained at the Al Wathba jail in Abu Dhabi.
Senator Gregorio Honasan said should be placed under the protective custody of Philippine National Police chief Ronald dela Rosa or the Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.
Kerwin’s father was killed in an alleged shootout with authorities serving him a search warrant in his cell at the Baybay City Provincial Jail on Nov. 5.
The Albuera mayor was supposed to reveal the identities of some 30 people involved in the narcotics trade with his son, among them a senator, police and congressmen, but changed his mind for fear of his life.
Lacson said the killing of the Albuera mayor not a simple case of someone who fought and was killed.
“Foremost in our minds is why would Mayor Espinosa even attempt to put up a fight while he was trapped inside a prison cell with nowhere to go, not to mention that he had surrendered and was fully cooperating hoping to become a state witness? Nothing make sense,” Lacson said.
Lacson said several questions—including what necessitated a search warrant when Espinosa was already in the custody of the government—needed to be answered.
He also wanted to ascertain the accuracy of reports that said the slain mayor was made to kneel and face the wall before he was shot dead.
“The death of Mayor Espinosa obviously affects the probative value of his sworn statement revealing the names of the ones on top of the drug trade, particularly the protectors,” Lacson said.
Senator Manny Pacquiao also confronted the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) on the need for a search warrant when the mayor was already detained, and therefore no longer had a right to privacy.
He said it was hard to believe the CIDG account of the mayor’s death.
Senator Grace Poe also found there were many inconsistencies with the testimonies of the CIDG.
“It seems that they had planned for this encounter way in advance to go through the trouble of applying for a warrant when in fact the mayor was already locked up in a government facility,” Poe said.
Gordon said there was strong evidence showing that Espinosa’s death was a summary execution.
Lacson pointed out that the CIDG had asked for Scene of the Crime Operatives (SOCO) even before their raid on Espinosa’s cell started.
He chided P/Supt. Santi Noel Gaspang Matira for calling for SOCO before the raid had started.
“It seemed you called for a funeral when there was no encounter yet,” said Lacson, a former chief of police.
Senate President Pro Tempore Franklin Drilon asked Matira why he made the call. Matira said he was told that shots had been fired.
When Drilon asked Matira if there was an expectation of deaths, he said no.
At this point, Lacson interjected: “There’s one word to describe this: premeditated.”
Gordon agreed.