Metro Manila (CNN Philippines) — In his much awaited testimony, the alleged mastermind of the drug trade at New Bilibid Prison (NBP) — Jaybee Sebastian — admitted to funding Sen. Leila De Lima’s campaign using drug money.
House Deputy Speakers Fred Castro and Gwen Garcia do not buy everything he said, but believe De Lima is connected to the drug trade.
In an exclusive interview with CNN Philippines’ The Source, Castro said that there is “probable cause” to believe her involvement.
“I think there is [an] abundance of evidence presented so far,” he said, adding that he found Sebastian’s claim of giving De Lima ₱10 million “believable.” To Garcia, the amount was even small for somebody considered “a top guy” in the drug trade.
Sebastian said he funded De Lima’s campaign with drug money, but denied claims by other witnesses that he was the most powerful among the drug lords. The hearing, which lasted 13 hours on Monday, is the fourth in the House of Representatives probe on the NBP drug trade.
In response, De Lima said that Sebastian gave his testimony under duress. De Lima explained that an “A-1 source” told her Sebastian is being pressured — through his wife, and with threats to his life — to pin down the senator in the drug trade allegations.
Sebastian however denied that he’s being forced to testify against De Lima.
Related: Jaybee Sebastian denies he’s a gov’t asset, admits funding De Lima campaign with drug money
“I’d like to point out that when the hearing started, we did not know what his testimony would be. We didn’t know whether he would be a hostile witness,” said Garcia, who added that the Department of Justice (DOJ) did not seek immunity for him.
However, they are wary of some of Sebastian’s claims, and Castro considered the testimony riddled with “half-truths, half-lies.”
Related: De Lima: Sebastian ‘pressured, pushed to the wall’ to testify against me
Testimonial inconsistencies
“He’s a very intelligent witness,” said Garcia, noting that he could “put some interpellators on the spot” with his answers. However, she added, “There were certain aspects of his testimony that would affect the credibility of what he was saying.”
For Garcia, what affected his credibility was his denial that he was an “untouchable” due to his closeness to De Lima.
The House Deputy Speakers noted there were other aspects of Sebastian’s testimony that ran against statements from other witnesses, such as his denial of a meeting that was held in his quarters. Castro also said that Sebastian’s action of leaving ₱2 million for De Lima without ensuring that it was received is suspicious.
“If Jaybee is only one against 10, and the testimony of other witnesses are corroborative to each other, [then] I as a lawyer would rather believe the testimony of the rest,” said Castro.
Following the hearings, the advocacy group Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption filed a case against De Lima in court.
Read: De Lima, 7 others face drug complaint before DOJ
Castro said that while he commends them for filing the case and “taking the cudgels for everybody,” he hopes that they coordinated well with the DOJ.
“What I’m afraid of is the DOJ might decide to file a case against De Lima and company, and there might be a complication,” said Castro, pointing out a possible “collision in the allegations of the witnesses.”
However, Garcia said there is a common denominator among all the witnesses, and that is De Lima’s involvement in the drug trade. Although he will give De Lima the benefit of the doubt, Castro also said, “[She] simply presents a negative denial… It’s nothing compared to an affirmative allegation.”
Legislation
Garcia said their hearings are only in aid of legislation — not for criminal prosecution.
“(We) were not there to find out who were actually guilty but what the flaws of the system [are] in order to craft legislation to address the long recurring problems in NBP,” she said.
Garcia also noted, the infrastructure of NBP accommodates corruption. She pointed out, inmates had to raise funds because they pay for their own electricity bills.
“If we change the infrastructure, there will be less room for corruption,” she said.
Castro also agreed that the problem is rooted in corruption.
