De Lima ‘heartbroken’ by Dayan’s testimony against her

“As a woman, it breaks my heart that my private life and personal relationship have become subject of the public and Congress’ ridicule,” Sen. Leila de Lima said. (Photo: Jess Escaros Jr./PNA)

MANILA—After her former aide and lover Ronnie Dayan testified on Thursday against her on her alleged involvement in the illegal drug trade, Senator Leila de Lima said that she was “heartbroken” by how a former confidant could betray her to save himself.

“No woman, whoever or whatever she may be, whether a sitting senator or a humble secretary, deserves to be betrayed, to be treated with so much disrespect and without dignity, before the public eye, by any man she is with or had a relationship with,” De Lima said in a statement.

“It is a shame that those I trusted fell into the trap of power, deceit, fear and intimidation that they found it necessary to lie and twist truths to save themselves,” she added.

Dayan, during the resumption of the House Justice committee hearing on the proliferation of drug trade at the New Bilibid Prison, claimed that he collected drug money for his former boss and lover from self-confessed drug lord Kerwin Espinosa back in 2014.

He said he personally handed over the money to De Lima at her residence, particularly in her room.

Several members of the House, meanwhile, took the opportunity to delve into the Dayan-De Lima affair which, according to Dayan, lasted for seven years.

De Lima previously admitted to having had an affair with Dayan, but stressed that such admission of their past relationship did not constitute proof of her culpability in the illegal drug trade.

She also denounced how the Congress could make a fanfare out of her personal life.

“As a woman, it breaks my heart that my private life and personal relationship have become subject of the public and Congress’ ridicule,” the neophyte senator said.

Although she did not watch the entirety of the public hearing, she said that the witnesses’ testimonies continued to have “glaring inconsistencies.”

“I refuse to indulge my accusers by addressing their web of lies and desperate attempts to implicate me as a corrupt public servant,” she added.

She said that there were more important national issues at hand and vowed to soon face her detractors in the courts.

Senators belonging to the Liberal Party (LP), meanwhile, slammed the congressmen for their “unparliamentary” conduct against De Lima, also a member of the LP, during the House probe.

“The disrespectful and condescending line of questioning — which at one point seemed to justify an act of domestic violence — has no place in the halls of Congress,” the LP senators said in a joint statement.

They also slammed the House for urging the Senate to cite De Lima in contempt, noting that they “cannot proceed against a member of another house without violating the principles of co-equality and inter-chamber courtesy.”

“The correct procedure is to bring the matter officially before the entire Senate and not directly to one senator,” the joint statement said.