Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 5) — Detained Senator Leila de Lima said Thursdays she will file a supplement to a complaint she lodged against former Justice Secretaty Vitaliano Aguirre in 2017 to include a criminal rap for offering false testimony, use of falsified documents, and grave coercion.
The opposition lawmaker said in a dispatch that the adffidavit of former Bureau of Corrections chief Rafael Ragos that Aguirre coerced him to implicate her in the illegal drug trade will serve as strong evidence to back up the complaint.
“Ragos’s affidavit will serve as strong evidence, together with the other documents I already submitted to the Ombudsman, that Aguirre committed these criminal offenses against me when he ordered the preparation and filing of fabricated drug charges against me,” she added.
Ragos recanted allegations against de Lima in an affidavit signed on May 2. Days earlier, self-confessed drug dealer Kerwin Espinosa also took back allegations he made against the senator.
Aguirre in a statement on Wednesday denied Ragos’ claims.
In her dispatch, de Lima said Aguirre “orchestrated the trial by publicity” and coerced employees of the Department of Justice to “admit falsely that they received money and held bank accounts for my benefit.”
She added he also gave immunity to inmates from the New Bilibid Prison to testify against her “even when criminal convicts are disqualified from becoming state witnesses.”
De Lima said Aguirre’s claim that Ragos’ recantation was politically motivated is “pure speculation, a flimsy defense.”
Meanwhile, Senator Richard Gordon urged the DOJ to fast-track the investihation into the retractions against his Senate colleague, or else let her go.
“It’s very difficult to put somebody in jail when she’s not guilty. I’m not saying she’s not, I’m just saying, when somebody makes a statement that is not true, that will bother him,” Gordon told CNN Philippines Thursday. “It’s like a crown of thorns on your head, you can’t remove the stain of lying in your soul.”
