(Eagle News) — Senator Leila de Lima on Wednesday said the dismissal by a Department of Justice prosecution panel of the drug charges filed against Kerwin Espinosa and the others only proves that she is innocent of the charges against her.
“Lalong napapagtibay (ito ng) aking paniniwala sa simula’t sapul na peke at palpak ang war on drugs ni (President Rodrigo) Duterte,” De Lima said in a statement made from detention in Camp Crame.
De Lima also denied she would request that she be placed under hospital arrest, noting that she would “never pretend to be sick” just so she could be freed from detention and be pitied.
In fact, she said she would not need an operation as the liver mass detected in her check-up on February 15 was “not malignant.”
On Monday, De Lima went to the Philippine Heart Center to undergo a CT-scan following the discovery.
“As I said, there is nothing to worry about. Nananatili po akong nakatutok sa pagtupad ng aking tungkulin bilang senador, habang hinaharap ang mga imbentong kaso laban sa akin ng mapaniil na rehimeng Duterte. Hinding-hindi po ako magpapanggap na may sakit para lang makalaya, at lalo na, para magpaawa. Huwag po kayong maawa sa akin. Maawa po kayo sa bayan,” she said.
Espinosa, who has admitted to being a drug dealer in a Senate hearing on drugs in 2016, alleged that he sent protection money to De Lima through her then-driver Ronnie Dayan.