Philippine. AFP PHOTO / AFP POOL / NOEL CELIS
(Eagle News) – President Rodrigo Duterte said he would continue to expose officials with alleged links to illegal drug operations, as he warned those who are trying to interfere in this campaign, including public and government officials.
As the word war between the President and senator Leila de Lima heated up, the President reminded the lady senator that she is in public office and should not be onion-skinned.
Life of public officials, an open book
“If you are in public office de Lima, your life is an open book,” he said.
He also said that De Lima’s driver whom he had earlier claimed as a “lover” of the senator could also be used as witness to reveal what he knows about the illegal drug operations.
“He (lover) can become a witness. Why would I file a case?” Duterte told reporters in Cotabato City. This was when he was asked why cases have not been filed against de Lima’s married driver who is allegedly having an affair with her.
“I can use many people. I can use a prisoner. I can use her lover who is her driver,” he added.
The President had earlier said that this alleged lover-driver of the senator had connections with illegal drug operators in Muntinlupa.
In his speech in Camp Crame during the 115th anniversary of the Police Service on August 17, Duterte first made mention of the lady senator and her lover.
“Here is a woman who funded the house of her lover and yet we do not say any complaint about it. Those money came readily from drugs. The intercept between Muntinlupa and the driver were far beyond, making sure that somebody was involved,” he said then.
De Lima said the President abused his power when he attacked her personally.
She said what the President said was “foul” and considered it as “character assassination.”
No abuse of power — Duterte
The President, however, said he did not abuse his power when he bared private details about De Lima. The lady senator is leading the investigation on extrajudicial killings on the drug war.
“I did not, but she did. She accused policemen of a lot of things. …. The policemen are dying,” the president said.
Newspaper reports have identified de Lima’s alleged lover as Ronnie Palisoc Dayan. Duterte alleged that the senator had built a house for Dayan, whom he also accused of being involved in narcotics.
The Philippine Star reported that the bungalow house allegedly built by De Lima for Dayan was located in Barangay Galarin in Urbiztondo, Pangasinan.
Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador Panelo also defended the President’s statements.
“Remember, the information given by President Duterte is in relation to her being a public (official)… So that encompasses within the duty of the president to serve and protect the people and to inform the state of the nation of whatever is being done by the government officials and whatever situation we are in now,” he added.
The President earlier said the fight against illegal drugs would be unrelenting. He vowed that the government would destroy the entire apparatus of illegal drugs operating in the country to save the next generation.
He said he would expose all those involved or with links to illegal drugs.
He said the police force would be willing to be investigated regarding killings during police operations.