Reelectionist Sen. Leila de Lima welcomed the manifestations filed before Muntinlupa courts by Ronnie Dayan, her former aide and co-accused in one of two remaining cases, denying the comments made by presidential aspirant Manny Pacquiao that he received and delivered money that allegedly came from illegal drug trade at the New Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa.
She said Dayan’s manifestations are a reminder of how most witnesses in her cases were either coerced or pressured to testify against her.
“I am much aware of reports about this incident where Dayan was cornered by certain senators and intimidated into confessing without the assistance of a lawyer. This was the time when congressmen and senators were trying to outdo each other in destroying me just to score pogi points with Duterte,” she said.
She added, “By now, we already know that Dayan, along with other witnesses, were intimidated and forced to testify against me. Kung hindi man para sa sarili nilang kaligtasan, kalayaan o iba pang insentibo, kailangan nilang gawin ‘yun dahil maliban sa pressure at takot, baka buhay nila o ng kapamilya nila mismo ang nakataya (If not for their own safety, freedom or other incentives, they needed to do it because aside from fear and pressure, they are afraid to put their lives and those of their families in danger).”
On April 4, Dayan’s 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.
In the manifestations, Dayan, through Soriano, denied the comment made by Pacquiao during the Commission on Elections presidential debate on April 3 in which he 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, ." (I spoke to the partner of Leila de Lima and he confessed that he delivered money and accepted money and that has to go through the right process.)
“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,” according to the court manifestations.
Dayan’s camp likewise stressed that he had already “repeatedly denied” in his counter-affidavits that he was involved in the illegal drug trade, including receiving money sourced from the drug trade.
De Lima, for her part, has repeatedly denied the accusations against her, saying the cases were trumped-up drug charges against her and are mere products of the President’s vendetta against her.
“Para makapaghiganti sa akin, ginawa ni Duterte lahat gamit ang buong makinarya ng gobyerno. Gamit ang kanyang poder at impluwensya, nagawa nyang magtahi ng mga kasinungalingan at mga imbentong paratang,” she said. (To get back at me, he used the machinery of the government, his power and influence, and came up with trumped up charges against me.)
One of the three drug cases filed against her was dismissed by a Muntinlupa court on Feb. 17, 2021. The remaining two are pending before Muntinlupa courts.