• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
Former senator Leila de Lima said on Wednesday, April 2, that she is determined to press counter charges against former President Rodrigo Duterte and former Justice secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II.
De Lima, who spent almost seven years in jail before she was cleared of the illegal drug charges filed against her, said her lawyers are on it already.
In a press briefing in Bacolod Ciy, De Lima said her lawyers are in the process of determining the exact cases to be filed against Duterte and Aguirre, whom she claimed to have a hand in accessing New Bilibid Prison inmates, who were forced, coerced and pressured into falsely testifying against her.
Duterte is now detained at The Hague Penitentiary Institution or the Scheveningen Prison in the Netherlands, while awaiting trial by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for alleged “crimes against humanity” in his administration’s war on drugs.
De Lima was acquitted last year of the three drug charges filed against her in court.
For the May 12 elections, she is the number one nominee for the partylist group Mamamayang Liberal (ML) with former representatives Teddy Baguilat and Erin Tañada as second and third nominees, respectively.
“It is easy to file cases or craft complaints. But whether it will stand in court, we need to prepare it thoroughly,” the former Justice secretary and senator, said. “It has to be an airtight case”.
Asked if she already achieved justice on what Duterte and his administration did to her, De Lima said the issuance of an arrest warrant against Duterte and his detention indicated that justice is taking its course. | GB
