Philippines: Senator de Lima accuses Duterte of being ‘number one drug lord protector’

Philippine Senator Leila de Lima. Pic: AP

 3rd December 2016

A SENATOR has accused Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte of “coddling” and protecting drug lords, amid calls for a probe into her alleged involvement in illegal drugs and acceptance of protection money.

Senator Leila de Lima said in a statement on Saturday that focus should be shifted away from her, and the public should be questioning Duterte’s reinstatement of the police official whose raid led to the death of Mayor Rolando Espinosa Sr. of Albuera.

The former mayor was shot dead in his own jail cell during a purported gun battle with officers in early November. The shootout took place as officers staged a raid in search of firearms and drugs, led by Supt. Marvin Marcos.

SEE ALSO: Philippines: Mayor Espinosa Sr shot dead in jail cell after crossfire with officers

On Friday, Duterte admitted to ordering the reinstatement of Marcos in an interview, reports ABS-CBN News. He added that he had called for the reinstatement because Marcos was “included in an investigative job”.

de Lima appears to have taken advantage of this admittance to steer attention away from her own alleged involvement with drug dealers. Kerwin Espinosa, son of the deceased Espinosa Sr., made a statement to the Senate claiming that de Lima accepted protection money from him through her driver, Ronnie Dayan, in 2015. He is expected to reaffirm that statement before the Senate again next week, according to The Inquirer.

The senator was quoted saying in a statement on Saturday following Duterte’s admittance: “We must start asking ourselves this question: whether or not the President, rather than De Lima, is actually the number one drug lord protector and coddler in the country.”

She added that she believed his order was more “sinister” than the public has been led to believe.

Duterte has consistently accused de Lima of being involved in the drug trade, and has been subject to a number of congressional inquiries, reports ABS-CBN News. She has so far denied all allegations, and most recently, denied knowing the Espinosas.