WITNESSES MORE CREDIBLE THAN DE LIMA!

Sept. 21, 2016

Witnesses in the House of Representatives’ hearing on the illegal drug trade at the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) in Muntinlupa yesterday turned out to be more credible than Leila de Lima. And this is not just because I am one of her critics.   It’s for the SIMPLE REASON that the witnesses had DETAILS like names, places, amounts and history in their testimonies. De Lima had NONE in her reaction. Here are excerpts from the testimony of one witness, gang leader Herbert Colanggo::

De Lima accepted P3 million in monthly bribes in exchange for allowing the luxurious lifestyle of some inmates. He started raising money for De Lima after talking to another NBP gang leader, Jaybee Sebastian. "Sabi niya, pare tulungan natin si Ma'am, si Secretary de Lima para pondo sa 2015, 2016 election... Mag-teamwork tayo. Ang usapan namin ni Jaybee Sebastian ay tulungan ko siya sa pagbebenta ng shabu." But after two weeks, Colanggo said he had a quarrel with Sebastian, prompting alleged De Lima security aide Joenel Sanchez to intervene. In his affidavit, Colanggo said his gang sold at least 10 kilos of shabu monthly until October 2014. "Bukod pa doon sa transaction na iyon, may P3 milyon po kami na ibinibigay buwan-buwan kay Secretary De Lima.  Kinokolekta ko po sa aking area, sa mga big-time [drug pushers].  

He started remitting the payola in October 2013 through Sanchez and a "Ma'am Lens," a supposed secretary in De Lima's office. Among the VIP privileges he enjoyed were smuggled golf carts, motorbikes and hundreds of boxes of beer. In January 2014, De Lima herself confirmed to him that she had received the money. He said he managed to copy De Lima’s number and recited it during the hearing. After that, Justice Sec.  Aguirre read a certification from the Department of Justice (DOJ) that the number was for a postpaid plan for De Lima from September 2012 to October 2015. Cebu Rep. Gwendolyn Garcia said the number is registered in her phone book as De Lima's contact detail. 

For her defense, De Lima said:”...prisoners are being selected and isolated just to be intimidated into implicating me.” She added that she received "credible" reports that inmates and gang leaders were being taken by PNP Special Action Force (SAF) menbers for overnight interrogations.

Pero tingnan ninyo, mga kababayan: WALANG ANUMANG DETALYE NA IBINIGAY si De Lima. WALANG PANGALAN ng mga bilanggong tinatakot kuno para isangkot sya sa drug trade. WALANG PANGALAN ng mga tauhan ng SAF na kumukuha at tumatakot kuno sa mga bilanggo. WALANG ORAS at petsa kung kalian ang umano’y pagkuha sa mga bilanggo.  WALANG LUGAR kung saan naganap ang diumano’y pananakot.  Saan man daanin, HINDI SASAPAT ANG SALITA LAMANG n De Lima.30