LEADERS of the House of Representatives on Thursday asked the Department of Justice to indict Ronnie Dayan, former driver and lover of Senator Leila de Lima, for defying their summons in the earlier inquiry on illegal drug trade at the New Bilibid Prison.
House leaders led by Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez filed against Dayan a similar criminal complaint for disobedience to summons of Congress under Article 150 of the Revised Penal Code they filed against De Lima earlier this month.
“Dayan’s failure to appear during the committee hearing on Oct. 6 and to respond to the show cause order without any legal excuse is disobedience to summons lawfully issued by the House of Representatives in violation of the Revised Penal Code,” stated the three-page complaint filed by Oriental Rep. Reynaldo Umali, chairman of the House justice committee.
The complainants stressed Dayan was summoned by the House after several high-profile inmates testified he acted as “bagman” who collected millions of drug money from them at the NBP when De Lima was still secretary of Justice.
The House has sent subpoena to Dayan last Sept. 28 and Oct. 6 to attend the inquiry but he failed to do so, prompting the issuance of a contempt citation and arrest order against him.
Dayan was arrested last month and made to appear before the House committee.
During the hearing, he admitted De Lima advised him to snub the summons of the House and presented the senator’s exchange of text messages with his daughter as proof.
Umali stressed they did not include Dayan in the earlier complaint against De Lima because they awaited the results of his application for witness protection program coverage in DoJ.
“We checked with the WPP and nothing happened there, so we proceeded with this case against him [Dayan],” he said.
The DoJ has resolved the earlier complaint against De Lima and filed the case before the Quezon City metropolitan trial court after finding probable cause in its summary resolution.
A case for violation of Article 150 of the Revised Penal Code was filed against the embattled senator before the Quezon City metropolitan trial court.
The indictment of De Lima for a criminal offense came a year after she left her post as DoJ secretary to run in the senatorial poll last May.
The case was filed last Dec.21 or just eight days after the House filed the complaint last Dec. 13.
Under the RPC, the offense charged against De Lima has a penalty of imprisonment from one month to six months and/or a fine ranging from P200 to P1,000.
Since the case involves light offense, no bail would be required of De Lima and that she would also not be arrested for it.
