MANILA, Philippines (Eagle News)– Senator Leila De Lima denied accusations that she and Senator Antonio Trillanes had a hand in the stabbing of Jaybee Sebastian at the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) in Muntinlupa City last September 2016.
In a press statement, she said that the accusations against her and Trillanes are in line with the propaganda thrust of the Duterte administration to pin all the blame on them.
“If I were responsible for the stabbing, it then seems that the NBP is run and managed by idiots who can’t protect high-profile inmates staying inside the most guarded spot in Philippine prisons,” De Lima said.
She then criticized Department of Justice (DOJ) Secretary, Vitaliano Aguirre II, for linking her and Trillanes to the stabbing of Sebastian last year.
She said Aguirre as the DOJ chief has power and authority to control and ensure that the NBP is secured, but that he refused to take responsibility for the stabbing of several high-profile inmates under his watch.
“He has PNP Special Action Forces holding sway over Bilibid but blames two senators for the stabbing incident, instead of asking the PNP-SAF why they were sleeping at the noodle house during the so-called riot. Or was it just a simple case of a state-sanctioned assassination and EJK, albeit frustrated, of a high-profile inmate who initially refused to testify against me, but who decided to sing like a bird after he is almost killed by fellow inmates-turned-state-assassins?” De Lima said in a statement.
She pointed to President Duterte and his allies as the ones responsible for allegedly torturing Jaybee Sebastian and other high-profile inmates who refused to testify against her.