By Vanne Elaine Terrazola
Senator Leila de Lima on Thursday chided Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra for assuming that the evidence for her drug cases are "strong".
Senator Leila de Lima (REUTERS / MANILA BULLETIN)
In her latest dispatch, De Lima responded to Guevarra's statements in a recent interview with ANC about her detention over her alleged involvement in illegal drugs.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) secretary questioned why the opposition lawmaker has not yet applied for bail despite insisting her innocence.
"I cannot really fathom, I cannot second-guess why Senator De Lima has not done so. Maybe she believes that the evidence of the prosecution is strong," Gueverra said in the televised interview.
But De Lima dismissed the remarks as "pure hogwash."
"How can a fake charge, a pure invention, have strong evidence? Lies orchestrated from criminal convicts and other so-called 'prosecution witnesses' with dubious reputation, are never strong evidence," she said.
The detained senator, however, refused to heed Guevarra's call for her to explain why she has not yet attempted to file a petition for bail. "Me and my lawyers cannot further comment on the matter of bail, lest we telegraph our legal moves to the prosecution – which is likely the reason for SOJ Guevarra’s public baiting statement."
In her opinion, Guevarra "exposed" himself as one of those involved in her imprisonment.
"His failure to correct the abuses committed by his predecessor, his continued defense of the railroading and persecution that was perpetrated against me, and his own duplicitous actions and statements regarding the so-called 'evidence' they have against me has made it clear that he is an active player in my continuing unjust detention and political persecution," De Lima said.