(Eagle News) — Senator Leila De Lima accused the government of making extra effort to hasten the filing of cases against her, which she said was a violation of her right to due process.
“Di ba dati ko nang sinabi sa inyo yung advance info ng DOJ (Department of Justice), na talagang pinabibilisan na nila? May mga ilang kaso na ipapadala nila sa Ombudsman, pero meron ding ipapadala sa regular trial court,” she told reporters Monday
De Lima also accused President Rodrigo Duterte as the one behind this plan to arrest her and have her jailed for her alleged involvement in the illegal drug trade at the New Bilibid Prisons (NBP).
She claimed that part of this plan was to file a case against her with the regional trial court so she could be immediately arrested, instead of filing the case before the Office of the Ombudsman which has jurisdiction over government officials.
“Alam nila pag dumaan sa Ombudsman, hindi naman kaagad-agad magpo-prosper yung kaso na yan. Hindi naman agad-agad yan mapupunta sa
Sandiganbayan. At lalong hindi kaagad i-a-adopt ng Ombudsman yung mga finding nila, or probable cause against me, dahil ombudsman mismo kailangan, would have its own independent assessment ng kaso,” De Lima said.
But De Lima said she is already preparing for the worst case scenario – and that is her arrest.
-Aguirre calls De Lima’s claims “erroneous”-
Meanwhile, Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II said Senator De Lima is totally irresponsible for claiming that the Department of Justice (DOJ) is expediting the issuance of a warrant of arrest against her.
“The claim of Senator De Lima is totally erroneous. As a lawyer and as a former Secretary of Justice, she should know that the DOJ does not issue warrants of arrest,” Aguirre said.
“Consequently, it is totally irresponsible of her to announce that the DOJ is expediting the issuance of such warrants. That is a blatant lie and a total misinformation. Senator De Lima’s motivation for saying such is beyond us,” he added.
Aguirre said that the statements of De Lima implied that the DOJ has influence over the courts.
“We do not do that, at least in my time as Secretary of Justice. It might be what was done during her time at the DOJ but definitely it will not be done during my time,” he said. (with reports from Meane Corvera and Erwin Temperante, Eagle News Service)