De Lima: I’ve been warned 2 sacked NBI execs will raise hell

Justice Secretary Leila de Lima on Friday admitted she saw it coming that the two sacked National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) officials would not take their removal lightly.

 

"I was warned - nang i-recommend na tanggalin sila na in-announce na kahapon ang pagpalit sa kanila - that they will be defiant. They would not take that siting down. That they would try to raise hell," De Lima said in an interview.

 

She was referring to recently dismissed NBI Deputy Directors Reynaldo Esmeralda and Ruel Lasala, who cried foul over their removal supposedly due to "integrity and trust issues" stemming from their alleged involvement in tipping off pork barrel scam suspect Janet Lim-Napoles.

 

"In spite of that warning, I proceeded with that recommendation to have them removed," De Lima said.

 

At a press conference at the NBI headquarters in Manila on Friday, Esmeralda and Lasala denied the accusation and claimed it was actually two other ranking NBI officials who had been meeting with Napoles before she was arrested last year.

 

They refused to identify the two but claimed they have evidence to back up their accusation, including a closed circuit television camera footage. They said they are willing to present it at the right time and venue.

 

Responding to Esmeralda and Lasala's revelations, De Lima said: "Bakit ngayon lang nila nilalabas iyan. I will have that checked. May naririnig akong ganyan before but they never brought that up to me."

 

"Parang sinasadya nila na may hinahawakan silang ganyan (evidence)," she added.

 

De Lima maintained that she recommended Lasala and Esmeralda's removal because of "derogatory reports" about them, but refused to elaborate on these reports.

 

De Lima, however, hinted that the sources of those "derogatory reports" came from "within and outside the NBI."

 

"Ask around from people at the NBI, from counterpart agencies, not just the NBI, (there are) a lot of derogatory reports surrounding them," De Lima said, but added the two had repeatedly denied the accusations against them.

 

"Pero I cannot close my eyes. I cannot play deaf sa mga naririnig ko at nakakrating sa akin," she said.

 

Asked about Lasala and Esmeralda's plan to elevate the issue before the Supreme Court, De Lima said it was their right to seek legal recourse at the high tribunal.

 

"Pero sana maintindihan nila na they are presidential appointees and serve at the pleasure of the president and the presient has absolute prerogative to do that," De Lima said, adding that she saw nothing wrong in the two sacked NBI officials' willingness to testify at the Senate inquiry on the pork barrel fund scam.

 

Career execs

 

De Lima also insisted that Esmeralda and Lasala are not career executive service officers (CEZO), and serving at the pleasure of President Beningo Aquino III.

 

"I just confirmed from (NBI Director Virgilio) Mendez and I also verified that before I submitted my recommendation to replace them," De Lima said.

 

De Lima said Esmeralda and Lasala might have meant they "rose from the ranks" when they insisted at a press conference earlier at the NBI that they are "career officials" and could not be abitrarily removed from office.

 

"But that's not CESO. They have to go through some process civil service and then may training iyan ang alam ko," she said.

 

"Ako nga, I'm not even a CESO also," De Lima added. — RSJ, GMA News