DOJ readies charges against her over drug trade in ‘Bilibid’

With state prosecutors currently gathering a huge portion of their evidence from the ongoing legislative inquiry into the extent of drug trafficking at the National Bilibid Prison (NBP), the Department of Justice (DOJ) is now readying the filing of criminal charges against Senator Leila de Lima, felons, as well as former and current officials and personnel of the national penitentiary.

Contrary to Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez’s position that the House inquiry will not be used in prosecuting De Lima, Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II told congressmen at the second day of the hearing that pieces of evidence they have so far gathered are enough to point out probable cause to pin down the senator on criminal charges.

“Ang gusto nating i-file ay iyong talagang airtight, hindi lamang probable cause.  Ang gusto natin ay proof beyond reasonable doubt kung ang ating testimonial evidence ay masusuportahan ng documentary evidence katulad ng bank accounts (What we will file is an airtight case, not merely probable cause.  What we want is proof beyond reasonable doubt if the testimonies will be supported by documentary evidence like bank accounts),” said Aguirre.

The DOJ official said that what they needed for the case buildup are confirmations by the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) about the existence of bank transactions involving the personalities mentioned by the witnesses.

However, he stressed that deposits in the illegal transactions can be determined through “forensic examination of the account numbers” from seized documents.

PING SUPPORTS CHARGES

Sen. Panfilo “Ping” Lacson said he believes an arrest warrant would be issued against De Lima soon as the affidavits and other pieces of evidences submitted at the Lower House shows the existence of probable cause to charge her before the courts.

But De Lima assailed Lacson for his comments.

“Akala ko ba pinagtatawanan lang ni Sen. Ping itong  persecution and harassments being done to me, as he recalls his own harrowing experience with the Mawanay episode?”

“Why is Sen. Ping saying now, based on media reporters, that there’s enough basis to now file charges against me prescinding from what transpired at yesterday’s House hearing? Is he convinced of the authenticity and veracity of the ‘stories’ of those obviously perjured witnesses?

“I’m aghast by some people’s propensity for double speak!” De Lima said in a statement.

Sought for comment, Lacson said De Lima probably misinterpreted his statements to the media.

“She got it all wrong. When I said pinagtatawanan ko lang yung pinagdaanan niya ngayon compared to what I experienced before, I wasn’t referring to the credibility of evidence being presented against her now and against me before, but the degree of harassment that former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and her cohorts in practically all the agencies of government were throwing against me,” Lacson said in a statement.

It was during Arroyo’s term that Lacson went into hiding after he was being implicated in the 2001 double murder of publicist Salvador “Bubby” Dacer and his driver Emmanuel Corbito.

During the term of President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III, De Lima, then DOJ secretary, refused to recall the manhunt against Lacson even though the Court of Appeals (CA) had already cleared him in the murders.

DE LIMA EXPECTS CHARGES

In her privilege speech last Tuesday, De Lima said she is now bracing for more attacks, taking note of Aguirre’s promise to file criminal complaints against her this week. She maintained these cases are all based on false and fabricated evidence.

“Sino naman po ang mga testigo nila? Mga preso sa Bilibid, mga convicted criminals, DOJ or NBI officials and others who have an axe to grind against me, or those who have skeletons in their closet and are now being pressured to do Malacanang’s bidding at the risk of being charged themselves,” she said in her privilege speech.

“At this point, I just want to say that I am forgiving those who would stand to witness against me at the House hearing. I know that you are just being forced to include me in the alleged anomalies inside the New Bilibid Prison, by blackmail, intimidation and perhaps even by torture. What I cannot forgive are those who are behind these invented evidences against me. You would have your day,” she vowed.

Contrary to De Lima’s claims, the high-profile convicted inmates of the NBP assured that they were not blackmailed into testifying against her.

“My clients have neither been threatened, cajoled, tortured nor intimidated, nor have they been subjected to torture, either physical or psychological,” read a statement from lawyer Ferdinand Topacio. Topacio is the counsel of high-profile Bilibid inmates Herbert “Ampang” Colanggo, Noel Martinez, German Agojo, Joel Capones, and Jerry Pepino.

In a radio interview yesterday, Alvarez said he has already instructed the Justice Committee to refrain from recommending the filing of cases against anybody.

Alvarez, the main author of the resolution, said that he wants the hearing to be true to what it’s supposed to be – in aid of legislation.

“After we learn the truth and the facts, we must be able to create the appropriate bill that would stop these incidents from happening again,” he said.

GLARING EVIDENCE

However, Rep. Harry Roque said the testimonies of former two National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) officials that they delivered P10 million to De Lima and her driver Ronnie Dayan are glaring pieces of evidence that could prove graft. Roque, who called for the resignation of De Lima, said there is presumption of regularity on the testimonies given before the House Committee on Justice by witnesses NBI intelligence agent Jovencio Ablen Jr. and former Director Rafael Ragos.

House Minority Leader Danilo Suarez said the telephone records of De Lima with Jaybee Sebastian and other inmates of the NBP maximum security compound may also be retrieved as evidence against the senator.

In a press conference, Suarez said the 2012 United Nations World Drug Report that named the Philippines as the country with the highest rate of shabu drug abuse in Southeast Asia confirms testimonies of witnesses that convicts in collusion with former DOJ and NBP officials joined forces in trafficking at least P1 billion worth of the drug.

At the resumption yesterday of the House Justice Committee hearing, Aguirre presented convicts Noel Martinez and Jaime Patcho, leaders of prisoners’ groups Genuine Ilocano Gang and Batman Gang, respectively, who  both identified fellow maximum security prison convict Jaybee Sebastian as the person who ran the drug trafficking operations from inside the NBP.

Martinez said he saw De Lima visiting Sebastian’s “kubol” or hut during her visits in 2013. He said it was Sebastian who asked him and other gang leaders to cooperate in the shabu trade in order for them to raise money that would help the then Justice secretary’s bid to for a senate seat.

The justice panel has agreed to subpoena Sebastian and Ronnie Dayan, De Lima’s alleged lover, in future hearings.

Martinez, who said illegal drugs proliferated within the NBP compound from 2012 to 2014, admitted that he referred friends outside the prison to get involved in the illegal drug trade, adding he had to do this out of fear for his life and to stop prison guards from harassing him and his gangmates.

“Sa lahat ng pagkakataon ng pagpunta ni Secretary De Lima sa kubol ni Jaybee, silang dalawa lang, iniiwan namin,” said Martinez.

He also recounted that when he rejected Sebastian’s demand that they must sell illegal drugs inside the prison compound, he and 18 other gang leaders were rounded up following a raid and transferred to the NBI detention center.

“Ang problema, pataas ng pataas ang benta ng droga na ipinipilit na malikom ni Jaybee para sa pangangailangan ni Secretary De Lima,” said Martinez.

LIVING IN FEAR

For his part, Patcho, 50, broke down when he testified as he aired fears for his safety and that of his family, for his testimony before the Justice Committee.

“Sana matulungan kaming mga preso na laging inaabuso tulad nang nangyari sa amin noong panahon ni Secretary De Lima,” said Patcho. (Please help prisoners who are always subjected to abuses like what happened during the time of Secretary De Lima)

Patcho recalled that like Martinez, he was also asked by Sebastian to help raise money to help finance the senatorial bid of De Lima.

He admitted recruiting some of his friends to dispose of drugs coming from Sebastian’s sources, earning P20,000 for each transaction worth P870,000.  At least P45.3 million changed hands from the drug deals, with the money from drug sale deposited in banks for Sebastian to withdraw.

“Kinausap niya (Sebastian) ako na ang sabi ay tulungan ko siya para hindi ako maperwisyo. At doon direkta niyang sinabi na bigyan siya ng tulong para sa paghahanda sa pagtakbo sa pagka-senador ni DOJ Secretary Leila De Lima (He asked for my help so that I will not be harassed.  There he asked me to help De Lima prepare for her candidacy for senator),” Patcho said.

Meanwhile, former Justice Undersecretary Francisco Baraan III yesterday denied allegations made by Colanggo that the former official transferred inmates at the NBP in Muntinlupa City in exchange for money.

“I did not have that authority to cause or order any such transfer,” Baraan said in a statement. (With reports from Ellson A. Quismorio, Hannah L. Torregoza, and Jeffrey G. Damicog)

Source:
courtesy of MANILA BULLETIN

by Ben Rosario

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