Dayan claims De Lima prevented him from testifying before House probe

Ronnie Dayan. (PNA photo)

MANILA—Ronnie Dayan, the former driver-bodyguard of Sen. Leila de Lima when she was still Justice secretary, claimed on Thursday that his former boss ordered him not to appear before the House of Representatives inquiry into the drug proliferation at the New Bilibid Prison despite the issuance of a subpoena against him.

During the resumption of the House Justice committee hearing, Dayan said in his testimony that he initially wanted to attend the congressional probe after being summoned by the lawmakers.

Upon learning of the subpoena, Dayan instructed his daughter, Hannah Mae, to send a text message to his former boss, De Lima, informing her about his plan to attend the said inquiry since the lady senator had stopped communicating to him.

”Ang reply niya sa anak ko, ‘Huwag mo siyang pa-attend…huwag siyang umatend diyan, pagkakaguluhan lang siya diyan’,” Dayan said.

De Lima added in her text message that Dayan should go into hiding since both of them would be made laughingstock and be further subjected to humiliation at the House inquiry.

Dayan’s daughter verified the text messages between her and De Lima by showing before the House Justice panel the conversation through her phone.

Following Dayan’s revelation, House Majority Floor Leader Rodolfo Fariñas called for an executive session to decide if De Lima will be cited in contempt for obstruction of justice.

After more than a month of surveillance operation, policemen arrested Dayan on Tuesday in the middle of a rice field in San Juan, La Union.