De Lima on Ombudsman probing her: ‘It’s expected’

Senator Leila De Lima said that she was accountable to the public as former Secretary of the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Senator. (Photo: Jess Escaros Jr./PNA)

MANILA—Unsurprised by the decision of Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales to order a probe into her alleged culpability into the illegal drug trade, Senator Leila de Lima on Saturday welcomed the move, noting that it was a chance to finally clear her name.

“I welcome the Ombudsman investigation, both as a regular undertaking of said office and as an opportunity for me to clear my record of any allegations of wrongdoing,” de Lima said in a statement sent to media.

“The Ombudsman’s decision to conduct a fact-finding investigation on the various allegations concerning the drug trade, including those that attempt to link me to said trade in the most absurd contexts, is only expected,” she added.

De Lima said that she was accountable to the public as former Secretary of the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Senator.

“I am not exempt from any Ombudsman investigation, as no public officer is, which is the clear intent of the Constitution,” she further said.

She pointed out that to investigate on her case was the Ombudsman’s mandate and expressed support for the Ombudsman, whom she described as “most trusted and respected.”

The neophyte senator also said that “it is about time” that the Ombudsman assert its primary jurisdiction over my case instead of the DOH which she said has shown a “lack of objectivity”.

Last month, Morales said that she would not yet probe de Lima for her alleged involvement in the proliferation of illegal drugs in the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) during her term as justice secretary.

Morales earlier told reporters that she would not conduct a motu propio investigation on de Lima since there was still a lack of leads that prove the allegations.

De Lima, who expressed deep respect for the Ombudsman, but said that this does not mean that the Ombudsman would no longer look into the cases entirely.

In separate hearings, de Lima’s former aide, Ronnie Dayan and self-confessed drug lord Kerwin Espinosa testified against the senator claiming she did receive money in exchange for protection in the Bilibid.

The senator, however, repeatedly denied these allegations insisting that they were lies and part of a plot to pin her down.