THE House of Representatives will file a string of cases against Senator Leila de Lima over her alleged illegal drug trade at the New Bilibid Prison and “illicit affair” with her former bodyguard and driver Ronnie Dayan, a House official said on Monday.
Rep. Rodolfo Fariñas said they will file a criminal complaint for contempt before a Regional Trial Court, a disbarment case before the Supreme Court and an ethics case before the Senate Ethics Committee for disorderly behavior.
He made his statement even as Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez said he was ready to sign an arrest warrant against De Lima for failing to attend the congressional hearings on the alleged illegal drug trade at the NBP.
He told reporters the House committee on justice, which conducted the probe, had to recommend the issuance of an arrest warrant against De Lima once she was cited for contempt.
As soon as the arrest warrant reached his office, Alvarez said, he would sign it.
“Most likely I will approve a warrant of arrest,” Alvarez said.
“My theory is that she did not act in her capacity as a senator. The Senate will not allow it.”
Fariñas said the series of probes by the House committee on justice proved that De Lima had committed administrative and criminal liabilities.
He berated De Lima for being disrespectful when she said the House probes into the Bilibid drug trade was an orchestrated move by President Rodrigo Duterte and Alvarez to destroy her.
He said they wanted De Lima penalized for acts of contempt before a regional trial court.
He said De Lima also violated the lawyer’s canon when she instructed Dayan’s daughter, Hannah Mae, to tell his father to snub the committee hearings.
“She should not advise a person to be a fugitive of justice or to go on hiding,” Fariñas said.
He added the Senate ethics complaint they would file before the Senate is something that senators have to be decided whether she will be suspended or not.
Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre III earlier said De Lima and Dayan could be held liable for contempt and obstruction of justice for ordering Dayan to go into hiding and evade the congressional inquiry where he had been invited to testify on the Bilibid drug trade.
