The lady senator denied receiving drug money but did not have a say on the “driver-lover” issue.
Senator Leila de Lima strongly and categorically denied the accusations of President Rodrigo Duterte that her driver, Ronnie Palisoc Dayan, serves as her bagman of campaign funds from drug personalities.
De Lima made the denial the two days after Duterte dropped the bomb that she and Dayan has a romantic relationship and in fact, she has given given him a white house as a “gift”.
In the two previous media appearances, De Lima was evidently emotional yet feisty, calling the attacks “foul” and “character assassination”.
On August 19, Friday, De Lima said, she had repeatedly denied it long before the President’s announcements.
“I’ve denied it many times before. So, I’m denying it again. That’s an absolute lie; that’s completely false! I would never do that because I’ve never betrayed my oath as a public servant and I don’t intend to betray my oath as a public servant, especially that I have a mandate,” De Lima told reporters in a mix of English and Filipino.
“I’ve denied it several times in various interviews because remember these are the insinuations that I am a protector, coddler of drug lords or drug convicts because I am a beneficiary. They said I’m on their payroll and that they contributed to my campaign funds,” she said.
“You know why I am completely silent? it’s very difficult for me because I don’t want to be publicly engaging and answer each issue separately, etcetera,” De Lima as she explained her apparent silence.
Amid denials, De Lima admitted that there are some snippets of truth in what Duterte said but most of them are mere exaggerations.
“But this what I can tell you. We’ve seen some snippets of facts, snippets of truths, but the bulk of it are distortions, exaggerations, and lies,” she added.
De Lima strongly denied that she has someone gathering money for her from the National Bilibid Prisons.
She, however, has not directly addressed the allegation that she is in a relationship with her driver.