De Lima: I won’t dignify Duterte’s latest ‘ridiculous’ jabs

(Updated 5:31 p.m.) Justice Secretary Leila de Lima on Monday said she would no longer dignify the “ridiculous” accusations made by Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte against her.

De Lima was answering reporters' questions regarding Duterte's latest tirade against her, including his statement that De Lima's order to stop former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo from leaving the country in 2011 to seek medical treatment can be considered “kidnapping” in the absence of a formal case in court.

“Ayaw ko nang sumagot sa mga ganyan, nagiging ridiculous na iyong ganyang mga banat,” De Lima said.

In a television interview on Sunday for the program “Gikan sa Masa, Para sa Masa” in Davao, Duterte said: “She arrested Arroyo and her husband at the airport and did not allow them to fly out. At the time, there was no case yet filed in court... Actually, what they did was they kidnapped or forced the Arroyos to go with them.”

De Lima, in 2011, had explained that she did not violate a Supreme Court temporary restraining order that paved the way for Mrs. Arroyo's trip abroad, since the DOJ did not receive a copy of the TRO on the day it was issued.

The SC TRO stopped the implementation of a DOJ-issued watch list order against Mrs. Arroyo, who was being investigated at the time for electoral sabotage in connection with the alleged irregularities in the 2007 elections.

De Lima insisted the government should first be allowed to file a motion for reconsideration before being ordered to comply.

Duterte's statement was the latest in a series of tirades against De Lima, after she said the Davao mayor should be prosecuted for admitting ties with a controversial death squad in Davao that preys on petty criminals and drug suspects.

Aside from challenging her to file a case against him, Duterte had also threatened to bring up personal issues against De Lima.

De Lima on Monday remained unfazed by Duterte's insults.

"Kahit araw-arawin niya akong insultuhin [at] lait-laitin at i-criticize ng mga kung anu-ano, hindi rin ako titigil sa paggawa at sa pagsasalita ng gusto ko ring sabihin,” she said, adding that like Duterte, she also has the right to free expression.

De Lima reiterated that the National Bureau of Investigation is still in the case build-up stage of its investigation on the death squad, with the help of a lone witness, who was a former member of the Davao Death Squad.

On Duterte's criticism on the continuous criminal activities inside the New Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa City, De Lima said the National Bureau of Investigation has been monitoring and investigating the national penitentiary long before the raid last December last year where the VIP treatment on several high-profile convicts were discovered.

“The December raid was the culmination of months of intensive information gathering and intelligence gathering doon sa mga natatanggap naming sari-saring reports na mga illegal activities within the NBP,” De Lima said.

“We had to plan that operations very carefully. It took months for that operation to materialize, so no one can accuse us of inaction, let alone condoning these illegal activities. That is too unfair. Hindi ko naiintindihan iyong ganyang mga banat,” she added.

The national penitentiary is run by the Bureau of Corrections, which is under the Department of Justice.

Duterte claimed it took the DOJ too long before acting on reports about illegal activities inside the national penitentiary. — KBK/RSJ, GMA News