De Lima slams SC for confirming legality of arrest
Sen. Leila de Lima yesterday slammed the decision of the Supreme Court (SC) to junk her motion for reconsideration on the legality of her arrest.
In a statement, De Lima said the decision was an indication the Duterte administration has already extended its influence to the judicial branch.
De Lima said former justice secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II has no basis to say the SC’s ruling was a vindication of the Department of Justice (DOJ)’s prosecution against her.
“Aguirre’s record of baseless accusations should be the only basis for the credibility of the DOJ charges against me,” De Lima said.
De Lima pointed out that during Aguirre’s stint at the DOJ, he was well-known for his “outrageous accusations against a variety of individuals and personalities, including a congresswoman and a former senator for supposed bribery of the convict-witnesses against me, senators for their supposed conspiracy in the Marawi uprising and South Korean embassy personnel’s alleged involvement in a syndicate.”
She said Aguirre then proceeded to accuse her of almost every crime that took place during his term, including the attack on the Resorts World casino and the riot inside the New Bilibid Prison.
De Lima insisted Aguirre fabricated all the testimonies used against her in order to persecute her as a critic of the administration.
“As DOJ secretary, Aguirre was nothing but a lawyer under the service of the Davao criminal syndicate led by Duterte. He was simply the Davao mafia’s lawyer, who earlier on defended the Davao Death Squad leaders to prevent the exhumation of DDS victims from the Laud property in Brgy. Ma-a, Davao City,” De Lima said.
She said this “Davao mafia” has used the entire state machinery to pursue its criminal activities, including legitimizing extrajudicial killings, exonerating big-time shabu smugglers and drug lords, and institutionalizing large-scale corruption in government.
“The SC’s denial of my motion for reconsideration does not mean that Aguirre or the DOJ is vindicated in filing charges against me. It only means that the Davao criminal syndicate that has captured state power in 2016 has not only been using the power of the executive department to eliminate their sworn enemies, like myself, but was also able to extend its influence as well to the judicial branch of government,” De Lima said.
She noted how acting Chief Justice Antonio Carpio himself called that decision “one of the grossest injustices ever perpetrated in recent memory.”
“Definitely not because it vindicates the DOJ, but precisely because it was a great travesty of justice that six members of the Court refused to sign,” De Lima said.