Roque’s attacks ‘baseless and inane’—De Lima

Sen. Leila de Lima on Thursday denied claims of House Deputy Minority Leader and Kabayan Party-list Rep. Harry Roque Jr. that she was responsible for attempts to remove him from his party. (Photo by Cesar Tomambo/Senate of the Philippines)

MANILA—Sen. Leila de Lima on Thursday denied claims of House Deputy Minority Leader and Kabayan Party-list Rep. Harry Roque Jr. that she was responsible for attempts to remove him from his party.

De Lima described his attacks against her as “baseless and inane”.

“I don’t know where Mr. Roque is coming from. I’m sorry to hear that he has been expelled from his party,” De Lima said in a statement.

Roque, who filed an ethics complaint versus De Lima, claimed that she “conspired” with his party-mate Rep. Ron Salo to hide her involvement in the illicit drug activities in the New Bilbid Prison (NBP) and to stop him from digging deeper into their criminal activities there.

He also claimed that this was De Lima’s way of punishing him for his active participation in the investigation into the proliferation of the illegal drug trade in Muntinlupa.

De Lima also denied knowing former Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) Love Foundation chair Ron Salo, who is also a representative of the Kabayan party-list.

“I don’t know Mr. Ron Salo, except for what I read in the news. I don’t recall any instance that I have ever worked or dealt with him,” she said.

De Lima asked Roque to stop dragging her name into his intra-party dispute noting that she had no interest in meddling with their internal party affairs.

The neophyte senator meanwhile advised him to instead focus on working on meaningful legislation rather than politicking.