Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, June 1)— Another personality has taken back his previous allegations against detained Senator Leila de Lima.
In his counter-affidavits filed separately in 2022 and 2020— copies of which were shared by De Lima’s camp on Wednesday — Marcelo Adorco said he was forced to make the claims for fear of his life.
Adorco is a key witness in the government’s drug case against self-confessed drug dealer Kerwin Espinosa.
“Wala pong katotohanan ang lahat ng aking alegasyon sa nasabi kong affidavit kung saan umamin ako na ako ay sangkot sa kalakaran ng illegal na droga at isinangkot ko si Kerwin Espinosa at iba pang tao,” Adorco said.
“Ang totoo niyan, napilitan lamang akong pirmahan ang nasabing affidavit dahil sa pangamba sa aking buhay at kaligtasan,” he added, noting that the document was crafted inside a police station in Leyte upon the orders of a high-ranking official.
[Translation: There’s no truth to all of my allegations in my affidavit where I admitted I was connected to the illegal drug trade and then I implicated Kerwin Espinosa and other people. The truth is, I was only forced to sign the said affidavit due to fear of my life and safety.]
Adorco also denied he knew De Lima personally.
“Hindi ko po [n]akausap kahit minsan… Wala po akong personal na kaalaman tungkol sa sinasabing pagkikita raw ni Kerwin at ni Secretary De Lima sa Baguio City,” he said.
[Translation: I haven’t talked to her even for once. I don’t have personal knowledge of the supposed meetup of Kerwin and (former) Secretary De Lima in Baguio City.]
CNN Philippines is reaching out to the Justice department for comment on the matter.
De Lima has been in detention since 2017 for allegedly abetting an illegal drug trade in the national penitentiary during her term as Justice Secretary in the Aquino administration. She maintained her innocence and accused the government of fabricating cases against her.
More calls for De Lima’s release
Adorco is the latest personality to recant his statements against De Lima after Espinosa, former Bureau of Corrections chief Rafael Ragos, and the senator’s former bodyguard Ronnie Dayan.
The developments have sparked anew calls for De Lima’s release— with her Senate colleague Ralph Recto joining in the pleas.
Recto urged president-elect Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. to “free Leila.”
“Another feisty lady worthy of our respect is Leila de Lima, a prisoner of conscience, punished for her courage, but whose spirit no prison walls could contain. Trolls put her behind bars. The truth shall set her free,” Recto said in his speech during the last session day of Congress.
