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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider Locsin: Don't rush Guevarra on De Lima case

Locsin: Don't rush Guevarra on De Lima case

Published Jun 5, 2022 08:11 pm

Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Hr. vouched for the integrity of his fellow Cabinet member Menardo Guevarra as the Department of Justice (DOJ) worked on the case of detained outgoing Senator Leila de Lima.

Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. and Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra (Malacañang photos)

Locsin said this after Guevarra said that the DOJ would be examining the remaining evidence against De Lima following the recantations of witnesses who had linked her to the illegal drug trade.

In a tweet, Locsin asked the public to give Guevarra and the DOJ more time to go over De Lima's case.

"Don't rush him. This is a man of more integrity and intelligence than all of the rest of the Filipino nation," he wrote Sunday, June 5.

"He was my fallback; the result: no mistakes; all successes. He turned down the Supreme Court to keep serving our country in real terms," he added.

Former Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) officer-in-charge Rafael Ragos recanted his testimony against De Lima. He had claimed to deliver money to her at her home as instructed by a convict in 2012. He likewise contended that then Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre threatened him and that all his allegations against de Lima were "all fiction, false and fabricated."

Self-confessed drug lord Kerwin Espinosa retracted his accusations against the jailed senator as he was "coerced, pressured, intimidated, and seriously threatened" to make such statements. Espinosa initially claimed to have paid De Lima payout drug money through her bodyguard Ronnie Dayan.

Last month, Malacañang said it would let the courts evaluate the pieces of evidence against de Lima.

Related Tags

Department of Justice Leila de Lima Menardo Guevarra integrity Teodoro Locsin Jr.
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