Again, I say that I am no fan of Senator Leila De Lima. That she is as clean as claimed is difficult to ascertain.
After all, one cannot deny that drug trafficking inside the New Bilibid Prison happened while she was secretary of the Department of Justice. It was also during her watch when privileges to prominent NBP inmates were “discovered.”
As DoJ secretary, she also defied the Supreme Court order allowing then-detained former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to leave the country and get treatment for her serious health problem.
I also would not be surprised if she gave favors to her former bodyguard and ex-boyfriend Ronnie Dayan using her powers as DoJ head.
Everything considered, De Lima may have, at one point or another, abused the political powers she had especially during the time of former President Noynoy Aquino.
De Lima’s cases are now in court. Despite everything, I would like to believe that the court will do its work according to its mandate and not according to the dictates of interested parties.
There are many questions surrounding the senator’s cases. The chronology of events leading to her arrest and imprisonment reeks of political vendetta. More importantly, it puts into question how our public institutions function, or malfunction. After all, the feisty senator is considered as the foremost critic of this administration, and the President, Rodrigo Duterte.
De Lima is behind bars in relation with one of the three charges against her, all on illegal drug trade inside the NBP the proceeds of which were allegedly turned over to her to fund her 2016 senatorial bid.
It will be remembered that before becoming a senator, de Lima investigated then-mayor, now President Rodrigo Duterte over the existence of the Davao Death Squad that he reportedly used to murder suspected criminals in Davao City. It will also be remembered that very early on after President Duterte assumed power, he has issued strongly worded threats against a woman official that he later named to be Senator De Lima.
It was also this senator who started the senate investigation on extra judicial killings in relation with this administration’s “war on drugs.” She was later kicked out as Chairman of the Senate Committee on Justice by Duterte’s allies in the Senate and replaced by Senator Richard Gordon.
De Lima was also responsible for the appearance of Edgar Matobato, a self-confessed hitman who testified during Senate hearings on EJKs. Matobato admitted to killing people as part of the dreaded DDS, and pointed to then-Mayor Duterte as the leader of the death squad. Duterte supposedly ordered the killings that Matobato took part in.
Duterte’s displeasure with, or perhaps the better term is hatred of, De Lima is public knowledge. He has mocked, insulted, and called the senator all sorts of names in his speeches as he threatened her downfall. For their part, his allies led by Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II followed his lead and created a circus around De Lima’s former relationship with Dayan. For weeks these men were threatening to make the alleged sex video of the two public. All these were happening while the senator was being investigated for her alleged participation in drug trafficking inside NBP.
De Lima was made the laughingstock of powerful men.
The cases against the senator were solely built around the testimonies of convicted drug lords serving their sentences in NBP. These big time inmates are said to have turned state witnesses against De Lima. DoJ Secretary Aguirre should do better than this if he is out to prove that De Lima is guilty beyond reasonable doubt.
Will the court find convicted criminals’ testimonies credible? As a non-lawyer, it is difficult to believe these convicts because they have been convicted of major crimes such as drug trafficking and murder. No other independent witnesses have come out to corroborate the statements of these inmates. If what these prisoners say are true, there must be others, more credible than they are, who knew about De Lima’s alleged crimes.
Also, despite Secretary Aguirre’s denials, other officials have said that Aguirre himself approved privileges for his witnesses. It is, therefore, not surprising for these men to say everything the DoJ secretary wants them to say. If Aguirre is able to do grant them privileges, what else have been promised to these convicted criminals? If they truly have become state witnesses, what will happen to the sentences they are supposed to be serving? This is a very dangerous game the DoJ is playing.
The timing of De Lima’s arrest is also highly suspect. We know how slow our courts are. Yet, in De Lima’s case, no time was wasted, it seems. Why?
A few days back, SPO3 Arthur Lascañas, one of those mentioned by Matobato in his testimony as part of the DDS, resurfaced. Lascanas belied Matobato’s statements when he was summoned to the Senate to testify. However, when he faced the media this time, he confirmed, in more ways than one, Matobato’s assertions about the existence of the DDS, and then Mayor Duterte’s role in it.
Lascañas worked closely with then Mayor Duterte as senior non-commissioned police officer in Davao City. He said the he was blindly loyal to Duterte and he killed as ordered. He alleged that they received anywhere from P20,000.00 to P100,000.00 for each kill.
Lascañas is due to appear in the Senate when the investigation on EJKs and DDS reopens. Is this the reason for the timing of De Lima’s arrest? Was the DoJ preventing any more harm that the senator’s presence and questioning of Lascanas can bring?
De Lima is an elected senator of the country. Yet, the non-bailable cases she faces seem to have been concocted using convicted criminals because she crossed the president. They want to silence her.
If this is the case and our government institutions can be used to serve just one particular interest, where is people’s welfare in this equation? If political vendetta can be the motive in imprisoning a political opponent, where is justice? If they can do this to an elected official, what can they do to ordinary critics of this administration?
The De Lima case is not just about the senator. It is about our democracy. If dissent is silenced, where is democracy?
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