Affair details bared in probe
Dayan: De Lima advised me to ignore subpoena
Ronnie Dayan (below, in picture taken at the House hearing), former driver and lover of Sen. Leila de Lima, says he had asked his daughter to seek advice from the senator on what to do with the House subpoena he received; daughter sent text because the senator had been ignoring his text and calls Dayan says he got jealous upon learning de Lima had a new boyfriend in the person of another security aide and that he slapped her
RONNIE Dayan yesterday told a House investigating committee that his former boss and lover Sen. Leila de Lima had advised him against heeding their subpoena. In the resumption of the House committee on justice’s investigation, Dayan said he had wanted to attend the hearing after receiving the subpoena, but de Lima told him to continue hiding. Dayan said that after his sister told him that they received a subpoena from Congress, he instructed his daughter Hanna Mae to text de Lima and ask for her “opinion.” He said he had his daughter text the senator because de Lima was no longer replying to his text or picking up his calls. Dayan was called to testify in the congressional inquiry on the illegal drug trade inside the National Bilibid Prison (NBP) in which the name of de Lima, former secretary of the Department of Justice, has been dragged.
Appearing before the House committee, Hanna Mae showed her exchange of text messages with de Lima dated Oct. 1, 2016, based on the record on her cellphone.
Hanna Mae: “Hi Tita. Good pm po. Mi (may) pinapatanong po si pah. Bakit daw po Mi dumating na
subpwena (subpoena) sa kanya at ano daw po gagawin niya.” (Papa is asking why he got a subpoena and what he should do.)
De Lima: “Pakisabi sa kanya magtago lang muna siya. Kagagawan yan nila Speaker Alvarez at dikta ni Digong. Pagpipiyestahan lang siya at kaming dalawa kapag mag-appear sya sa hearing na yan....” (Please tell him to hide for now. Speaker Alvarez is behind all of this, on orders of President Duterte. He and I will just be mocked if he attends the hearing.)
Hanna Mae: “Hindi naman po ba siya huhulihin kapag hindi siya pumunta?” (Would he be arrested if he doesn’t go?)
De Lima: “Di ba nagtatago naman siya?” (Isn’t he hiding?)
Dayan had been in hiding since he was named as being the bagman of drug money for de Lima.
After Hanna Mae read de Lima’s number aloud, Rep. Harry Roque said it was the same number he had of de Lima on his cell phone.
Dayan said it was his last communication with de Lima until his arrest on Nov. 22 on orders of the House for the contempt charges for his failure to show up in the inquiry.
Dayan, former driver and bodyguard of De Lima, was identified by witnesses who faced the House probe earlier as the one who received money from drug lords intended to fund de Lima’s election campaign.
Conflicting
Also during his testimony yesterday, Dayan said he did not know Kerwin Espinosa, the “drug lord” who gave money to de Lima. Dayan said he thought Espinosa was an engineer.
But Espinosa, testifying before a Senate committee Tuesday, said he and Dayan were introduced to each other by then Albuera, Leyte police chief Jovie Espinido.
The testimonies of Dayan and Espinosa did not jibe especially about dates and places of their meetings.
End of affair
Answering questions about his romantic relationship with de Lima, Dayan said he ended his seven-year affair with her after he learned about her new boyfriend.
Dayan, who is married since 1991, said his love affair with de Lima began in 2007, months after he started working for her as his driver and security aide.
He said in 2010, they started living together in de Lima’s house in Paranaque.
Before 2015, their relationship was already shaky and they constantly fought and bickered, Dayan said in his Tagalog-written affidavit, which he read during the hearing.
New boyfriend
When he learned that she had taken Warren Cristobal, one of her aides, as her new boyfriend, he slapped her and told her, “Uubusin mo yata kaming mga security mo (it seems you’re hooking up with all of your aides).”
Dayan said he rarely went to work after learning about her relationship with another man. He said he stayed in Pangasinan to cool his head off.
He said days after, de Lima texted him asking him to go to Manila to sign some documents as he had continued to receive salary despite his absences. Those documents served as his termination papers, he said.
Pangasinan house
Dayan said in 2007, he and de Lima acquired a property in Pangasinan.
He said he used his savings of P800,000 and the money given to him by De Lima worth P2 million to build the property.
It was reported earlier that Dayan owns a property known as “White House” in Urbiztondo, Pangasinan.
Dayan denied owning the white house and said that it is the orange house situated nearby that is theirs.
He said de Lima gave him P120,000 for the lot in Urbiztondo and another P2 million for the house.
“Noong 2007 humingi ako kay ma’am ng P120,000 pambili ng lupa. Sa pagtayo ng bahay, nasa P800,000 ang galing sa akin at P2 million ang galing kay ma’am (In 2007, I asked P120,000 from her to be able to buy the property. For the house construction, I spent P800,000 and the other P2 million came from her),” he said. Sunnex/Third Anne Peralta-Malonzo