The chair of the House committee investigating Sen. Leila de Lima's alleged ties to drug lords at New Bilibid Prison (NBP) has challenged the former justice secretary to appear at the next hearing to defend herself.
Oriental Mindoro Rep. Reynaldo Umali, a former colleague of De Lima in the Liberal Party and now a member of President Duterte's PDP-Laban party, said the junior senator should stop speaking ill of the House inquiry and accept its invitation to testify.
De Lima has refused to appear at the House inquiry, questioning the credibility of its witnesses, including illegal drug lords and convicted kidnappers and murderers.
The congressman presided over the two-day inquiry last week that heard several witnesses accusing De Lima of coddling drug lords still operating while serving their sentences at NBP and collecting payoffs from them and linking her to Jaybee Sebastian, an alleged drug kingpin.
According to Umali, nobody else but the convicts, including high-profile inmate Herbert Colanggo, would have knowledge of the clandestine drug operation in the maximum security compound of the prison.
“Sen. Leila de Lima seems to talk out of turn when she complains that convicted criminals have testified against her in the ongoing hearing of the House committee on justice investigating the illegal drug trade in NBP,” he said.
“We summoned witnesses who have firsthand knowledge of the illegal activities in prison. Who else can they be but convicted criminals themselves?” Umali said.
Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer
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