House Deputy Minority Leader and Mamamayang Liberal party-list Rep. Leila de Lima on Thursday issued a statement dismissing as clearly fabricated the claim by lawyer Levi Baligod that she received kickbacks from flood control projects.
“Whether it’s in a suitcase or a paper bag or whatever, it’s clearly just an invention. Their story immediately became complicated because of the open lies and insults to me again!” De Lima said in mixed Filipino and English.
“Baligod is playing fast and loose with his license to practice law,” she added.
In a radio interview on Thursday, Baligod admitted that he may have made a mistake in including De Lima in his list of lawmakers who allegedly received suitcases of cash, as she had not been elected yet when the deliveries were made.
“It’s true that she only became a Congresswoman in 2025, but what they were talking about then was that she was present at meetings regarding the ICC, so I just put her among the members of Congress,” Baligod claimed.
