Duterte’s top critic faces long spell in jail
"I'm no longer surprised when this administration files trumped-up charges against me. They just won't quit until they destroy me." Leila de Lima
PHILIPPINES: The most prominent opponent of Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte faces decades in prison after allegations of corruption and payoffs from drug dealers were brought against her by the country’s criminal investigation agency.
The National Bureau of Investigation has filed formal complaints against Leila de Lima, a senator and outspoken critic of Duterte’s programme of killing alleged drug dealers. If the case leads to criminal charges and a conviction, she could spend 30 years in prison.
The allegations, which de Lima, 57, vehemently denies, date from her time as justice minister under the previous president, Benigno Aquino. return for the right to live in luxury in jail and continue to run their businesses from behind bars.
According to the complaint by the bureau, ‘‘it is evident from the revelations of numerous witnesses as detailed in their sworn affidavits that ... de Lima was fully aware of the unlawfulness of their actions’’.
De Lima insists that she is being persecuted for exposing the role played by Duterte in the extrajudicial killings of alleged drug dealers and users.
She said: ‘‘I’m no longer surprised when this administration files trumped-up charges against me. They just won’t quit until they destroy me.’’
Since Duterte came to office in June, more than 4000 people have been killed by police or vigilantes. The campaign began in the southern city of Davao, where Duterte was mayor.
In September de Lima summoned Edgar Matobato, 57, to testify before the senate. He said he was a hitman in Davao, and described shooting, hanging and feeding to crocodiles his victims, who included Islamist terrorists, pimps, drug dealers and at least one journalist.
Matobato described how he had failed to assassinate de Lima herself when she visited Davao to investigate the so-called Davao death squad.
De Lima has brought a case of her own, demanding that the president and his agents stop investigating her private life.
- The Times