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Friday, March 29, 2024

DoJ: Stop yakking, face raps

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JUSTICE Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II on Wednesday advised his predecessor and now Senator Leila de Lima to calm herself and stop the hysterics and face the allegations against her like a lawyer.

“If you become hysterical and scream like that, the people will not understand you,” Aguirre said, in an interview following De Lima’s outbursts during a press conference at the Senate, where she dared President Rodrigo Duterte to arrest her immediately.

Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II

Aguirre aid De Lima should be more lawyerly in addressing the charges against her, instead of accusing the administration of coercing witnesses and fabricating evidence against her. 

“If you make an accusation, there should be proof. Where is your proof that the inmates were tortured?” Aguirre said.

He was referring to high-profile inmates at the National Bilibid Prison who testified that De Lima took drug money from them when she was Justice secretary.

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“You already came up with theories and speculations—as if you’re not a lawyer. That’s not how you defend yourself. You should investigate first and just state the facts,” he said.

Aguirre also said that the inmates led by robbery convict Herbert Colanggo were not coerced into implicating De Lima in the illegal drugs trade in NBP.

“If they were coerced, how come they were so calm, even cracking jokes during the House hearing? That’s how a truthful witness is. You should present witnesses like them and stop yakking,” he said.

He also said he regretted the senator’s personal attacks, saying her use of a wig was irrelevant to the issues at hand.

Aguirre vowed to investigate allegations against De Lima, including the disappearance of some P300 million in cash from a raid on the NBP that she led in December 2014.

Aguirre earlier said an NBP inmate and a government intelligence agent would testify on this issue before the House inquiry.

Witnesses from NBP also supported the latest allegation against De Lima.

Meanwhile, the witnesses through their lawyer Ferdinand Topacio, said De Lima and her raiding team took millions in cash, expensive watches and jewelry from them during the raid. 

“In spite of demands both written and verbal for the DoJ [Department of Justice] to return these items to the relatives of the inmates, we were roundly ignored by her,” the statement read.

From Colanggo’s cell alone, authorities had seized three vaults containing eight watches—five Rolex watches, one Philip Stein and one Cartier watch and various jewelry.

They also found designer wallets and bags with cash inside them.

Topacio also denied claims by De Lima that his clients threatened her after they were moved from the NBP to the National Bureau of Investigation and eventually to Building 14.

“Senator De Lima was never threatened by my clients when they were transferred to the NBI. On the contrary, we took the legal route by going to the Court of Appeals when my clients were being held incommunicado without the benefit of counsel. We filed Petitions for Writs of Amparo, and a writ was in fact issued in January 2015,” Topacio said.

He also denied De Lima’s allegations that his clients were tortured to testify against De Lima.

“My clients were not coerced, threatened, intimidated, tortured or given promises to testify. They did so voluntarily,” Topacio said. With John Paolo Bencito

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