Metro Manila (CNN Philippines) — A former senator and a Laguna representative denied bribery allegations after Justice secretary Vitaliano Aguirre said in a media interview that they paid high-profile Bilibid inmates P100 million–purportedly to retract statements against Senator Leila de Lima.
Former senator Jamby Madrigal said the bribery accusations were “baseless, malicious and outright lies.”
“The head of the Department of Justice is supposed to be ensuring not just the rule of law, but sobriety in its application. He is not supposed to be in the business of peddling conspiracy theories, much less engaging in character assassination,” Madrigal, who is currently abroad, said in a statement.
Biñan representative Marlyn Alonte-Naguiat said she does not know any of the inmates who testified in the Congressional hearings that probed the proliferation of drugs inside the New Bilibid prison.
Among the inmates who testified in the Congressional hearings were Jaybee Sebastian, Jojo Baligad and Hans Tan.
The Congressional hearings implicated Senator Leila de Lima, who was also former Justice secretary.
She was arrested at the Senate and detained in Camp Crame Friday morning after the Muntinglupa Regional trial Court found merit in drug-related charges filed against her.
Naguiat was a former member of the Liberal Party, also de Lima’s political party, before she joined President Rodrigo Duterte’s political party PDP-Laban in June.
CNN Philippines’ correspondent Makoi Popioco and digital producer Yvette Morales contributed to this report.
