Metro Manila (CNN Philippines) — Embattled Senator Leila de Lima on Monday said inmate Jaybee Sebastian was “pushed to the wall” after being pressured to testify and make up stories against her.
De Lima cited this as the reason Sebastian why finally took the witness stand at the House probe on the illegal drug trade at the New Bilibid Prison.
“Now that he has finally appeared there at sumama na rin sa mga kasinungalingan na ‘yan, ibig sabihin hindi na niya kinaya yung pressure,” De Lima told reporters in a chance interview while the probe was ongoing.
[Translation: “Now that he has finally appeared there and joined the lies, that means he could no longer contain the pressure.”]
De Lima said her detractors have been threatening Sebastian and his wife, to force him to pin her down in his testmony.
She reiterated that Sebastian targeted for assassination in the so-called riot at Building 14 of the maximum security compound. One inmate was killed in that incident, and three others were injured – including Sebastian, who was stabbed.
Also read: Jaybee Sebastian wants out of NBP’s Building 14
De Lima said a week before the bloody incident, her source received text messages from Sebastian’s wife, who said she will talk Sebastian into testifying against De Lima.
De Lima even read these messages before reporters hours after the stabbing incident at the Bilibid.
Also read: De Lima: Bilibid incident a scare tactic against inmates
Sebastian on Monday denied De Lima’s claim that he is a government asset. He admitted to giving millions of pesos of drug money to De Lima for her senatorial campaign.
When asked about this, De Lima clarified that it was her sources from the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Task Force who said that Sebastian is a government asset, and had been giving information about the illegal trade at the NBP.
De Lima also said her former security aide, Joenel Sanchez, was also forced to testify against her.
On the third day of the House inquiry, Sanchez said De Lima and her former driver/bodyguard Ronnie Dayan had an intimate relationship. Witnesses have said Sanchez and Dayan received drug money from Bilibid inmates to fund De Lima’s campaign.
De Lima said she is no longer following the probe at the Lower House because it will further take a toll on her health.
