General Admission
What if De Lima resigns now?
By Al S. Mendoza
NOW the Lower House wants Leila de Lima disbarred.
Reason?
De Lima counseled Ronnie Dayan to hide and elude arrest by the police.
She had admitted it to media this week.
Even before the admission, many congressmen accused De Lima of obstruction of justice.
They said De Lima’s advice to Dayan was enough ground for De Lima’s disbarment.
They also asked the Senate to do the same, but Sen. Tito Sotto said an ethics case against De Lima is forthcoming.
But on the obstruction of justice issue, De Lima has a new tack.
She said she was not obstructing justice when she advised Dayan to hide.
She said she told Dayan to hide “to obstruct persecution” of Dayan from the Congress’ probe on drug deals.
Dayan was De Lima’s driver-bodyguard-lover for seven years.
De Lima is legally separated but not Dayan.
Dayan, from Urbiztondo town, became a fugitive by running away from a summons to appear in Congress that is probing illegal drug deals.
The police said they arrested Dayan in Bacnotan, La Union last week.
Already, the informant, said to be Dayan’s relative, has received the P1-million bounty from VACC (Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption).
The VACC also wants De Lima disbarred.
De Lima, the former Justice Secretary, has been accused of engaging in illegal drug deals.
In the Congress probe, Dayan admitted being De Lima’s bagman, collecting millions of money several times from drug lords like Kerwin Espinosa.
Hanna Mae, Dayan’s daughter, even appeared as a witness in Congress.
She showed her cell phone in the hearing that contained De Lima’s text message advising Dayan to hide from the authorities.
Most people you meet in the street today say De Lima is really damaged goods.
By admitting her love affair with Dayan, she exposed herself as having virtually entered into an adulterous relationship since her paramour was a married man.
That is the height of irony, considering that she was Justice Secretary at the time she and Dayan were lovers.
How she will be able to parry the Congress thrust is something we all watch with bated breadth.
And what’s going to happen to her once the Justice Department files the illegal drugs case against her?
If truth be told, I now begin to pity her.
She seems to be alone, too. Her allies seem to be even thinning.
One school of thought is what if she resigns suddenly as senator?
Will that spare her of all this grime and slime and shame, and fly away to Lala Land free as a bird?
Chief Justice Corona did not resign. Look what happened to him. He fought it out in the Senate.
He didn’t only lose his name and honor. He lost his life as well. Sad.
Share your Comments or Reactions
Powered by Facebook Comments
