Dose of her own medicine

MONTHS after the noisy exchange of foul statements from opposing parties, Senator Leila De Lima’s arrest warrant was ordered Thursday on drug-related charges filed against her by the Department of Justice.

Judge Juanito Guerrero of Muntinlupa RTC 204 ordered De Lima’s arrest days after the Muntinlupa Regional Trial Court raffled off her case.

The Justice Department filed on February 17 three criminal cases against De Lima for allegedly violating the Comprehensive Drugs Act of 2002.

Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre said the cases against De Lima are nonbailable and are punishable with reclusion perpetua or life imprisonment.

But De Lima insists she does not deserve it, that it is unfair that she is being warned to suffer the same fate she supposedly caused on former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

Arroyo, who could have used her power as then president to patch up her mistakes, aired a live statement on TV to apologize. She was ridiculed, shamed and destroyed. She knows the consequences but she went through all the mockery to pay her dues.

If the allegations against her are right, she was already involved with the illegal drug trade at that time. The same time when she got all the praises for having enough guts to jail a president, for being true to her oath, for doing her job against the odds.

In her case, witnesses after witnesses surface to back up the accusations against her but she still claimed to be innocent. As a lawyer, a topnotcher of her batch in fact, she should have known that evidences are needed to prove one’s claim.

If De Lima is really innocent then she must prove it instead of pointing her fingers at other government officials who are allegedly involved in other issues.