THE Senate is not likely to look into Solicitor General Jose Calida’s exposé hinting at cordial relations between then-Justice Secretary now Sen. Leila M. de Lima and a convicted drug lord detained at the national penitentiary, unless a resolution is filed calling for an inquiry.
Asked if the Senate can look into the Solicitor General’s allegation that de Lima could be coddling imprisoned drug lord Jaybee Sebastian, whom de Lima allegedly visited at the New Bilibid Prisons in Muntinlupa City, incoming Senate President Aquilino Q. Pimentel Jr. said a resolution is needed to trigger an investigation into the matter.
“Let us wait for a resolution to be filed on the issue,” Pimentel said. “If none, then [the Senate has] no business looking into it,” he added.
Pimentel, however, was unsure if any member of the Senate would initiate filing such a resolution calling for an inquiry into de Lima’s alleged links to the drug convict as claimed by Calida.
“If nobody files, there’s no probe [against de Lima],” he said, pointing out that, “It must come spontaneously from the senators.”
Incoming Majority Leader Vicente C. Sotto III, a known anti-illegal drug advocate, agreed that a Senate inquiry can be conducted by the senators, but only “if a complaint is filed.”
But in case a resolution is finally filed to inquire into Calida’s claim linking de Lima to a convicted drug lord, comebacking Sen. Richard J. Gordon said this would likely be referred to the Ethics Committee, which will conduct hearings on the matter.
For her part, de Lima “denounced in the highest possible terms this latest demolition job linking me to maximum security inmate Jaybee Sebastian or to any other convicted or suspected drug lord or operator now or in the past.”
In a statement, she categorically denied “any insinuation of me extending any protection or accommodation to any criminal.”
De Lima added: “My personal and professional records would belie all accusations hurled against me, which are obviously intended to malign my good name and reputation and to undermine the performance of my lawful duties as a senator.”
“Atty. Jose Calida, who once served as justice undersecretary and acting secretary during the Arroyo administration, should have known better that public servants, like us, conduct meetings, or attend events or activities, or both, with all kinds of people in pursuance of official duties, similar to the much-publicized meeting or encounter between [the National Police chief] Director General Ronald dela Rosa and several convicts, like Herbert Colangco, Peter Co and Jaybee Sebastian,” de Lima said.
While serving as justice secretary, de Lima recalled, she attended several Management Committee (ManCom) meetings of the Department of Justice (DOJ), including one hosted by Bureau of Corrections (BuCor), then headed by BuCor Director Gaudencio S. Pangilinan Jr.
“That one meeting, which was covered by the media at the premises of the National Bilibid Prison, was also attended by other top officials of the DOJ, including the heads of attached agencies and BuCor officials. At the sideline of the event, the ManCom members mingled with some inmates during certain activities on the same day as part of the reformatory program of the BuCor. It is most likely there that the photograph was taken and is now being shown by Calida out of context,” de Lima said.
She suggested that Calida stop “his fixation on Throwback Thursday photos of me and, instead, just start doing his real job of reading the 501-page decision on the West Philippine Sea case.”
“Meanwhile, I warn those who are attempting to implicate me to any illegal activity, and much less to illegal drugs, which I have always fought: You will be frustrated. While I have been patient with all the attacks, I will never be intimidated. Rather, I will remain steadfast in fulfilling my sworn duty as senator to uphold the Constitution and human rights,” de Lima added.