Ronnie Dayan, the co-accused in cases filed by the Department of Justice against Sen. Leila de Lima, has refuted the statement of presidential candidate and Sen. Manny Pacquiao that he received and delivered money that allegedly came from illegal drug trading at the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) in Muntinlupa.
Dayan, through his lawyer Haidee Soriano, filed manifestations with the Muntinlupa Regional Trial Court Branches 204 and 256, which are handling the cases for conspiracy to commit illegal drug trading filed by the DOJ in 2017 against De Lima and Dayan.
During the Commission on Elections’ presidential debate on April 3, Pacquiao said, “Alam niyo po, nakausap ko ‘yung ka-partner ni Leila de Lima, si Dayan, at nag-confess talaga na naghatid sya ng pera, may dala, tumanggap siya ng pera pero mahirap naman po ‘yun kung hindi natin idadaan sa due process.”
In the court filings, Soriano stated, “Considering that said statement made by a prominent presidential candidate which was broadcasted by media nationwide might prejudice the trial of accused in the instant case, he would like to set the record straight on Sen. Pacquiao’s statement, not before media, but before the Honorable Court.”
“Whatever statements accused have made to Sen. Pacquiao or to the Senate at the time of the Senate Committee investigation in the latter part of 2016 on the killing of Albuera Mayor Rolando Espinosa were made under duress and without the benefit of counsel of his choice,” she said.
The manifestation also added, “For that matter, whatever statements were purportedly attributed to the accused during the House of Representatives Justice Committee hearings on the Bilibid Drug Trade, also held in the latter part of 2016, were all made under duress and without the benefit of counsel of his choice. At that time, accused was already a detained prisoner of the House Justice Committee, with his liberty conditioned on the lies he was coerced to tell the House Committee about his supposed involvement in the Bilibid drug trade.”
According to Soriano, Dayan “has already repeatedly denied in his counter-affidavits to the complaints filed by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and the Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption (VACC) with the Department of Justice (DOJ), both dated 20 January 2017, that he was ever involved in illegal drug trading, including the receiving of money sourced from drug trading.”
The counter-affidavits were previously submitted to the Muntinlupa courts regarding the pending cases.
“This manifestation is being filed to set the record straight before the Honorable Court, considering the highly prejudicial nature of the public statement made by a very prominent and famous public figure on the determination of accused’s guilt or innocence in a trial that is still pending before the Honorable Court,” added Soriano.
De Lima, who is running for reelection, also chided Pacquiao for his comment.
“Naniwala ka ba agad basta sinabi lang sayo? Did you ever give me the benefit of asking my side also? If not, what is the point of mentioning an unfounded accusation during a presidential debate? Yan ba ang due process as you know it?” De Lima said in a Twitter post on April 4.