De Lima denies receiving drug money

Sen. Leila de Lima has denied that she accepted drug money to fund her electoral campaign.

In an interview with Winnie Monsod on the GMA News TV show, "Bawal ang Pasaway kay Mareng Winnie," De Lima said she instructed her staff to check the background of contributors before accepting donations for her campaign.

"Very clear ang instruction to the staff, na huwag tayo basta-basta tumanggap galing sa hindi natin kilala at least hindi natin alam ang background. Lalo na yung ganyan, mga drug lords, mga convicts, mga sino man notorious na mga tao. Hindi tayo pwedeng tumanggap diyan. Ang alam ko po sinunod po 'yan ng staff ko," she said.

"Kung totoo po na may drug money akong natanggap, siyempre pag drug money marami po yan, milyon-milyon po yan. Di sana hindi lang yun ang pwesto ko," she added.

De Lima, who made it to 12th place in the senatorial race in May 2016, said her expenses are disclosed in her Statement of Contributions and Expenses (SOCE).

"Based on my SOCE, yung ni-report namin, at yun naman po talaga ang nasa records namin, P86 million something lang po yung aking expenditures at galing naman ang tulong sa aking mga kaibigan, mga kamag-anak," she said.

In her SOCE, which she submitted to the Commission on Elections, the senator is the 14th candidate with the highest expenses reaching P86,153,300.49.

Among the candidates who received the largest amount of campaign contribution, De Lima is the 12th on the list with P86,831,095.19 from about 190 individuals.

Among her biggest contributors was her former husband, lawyer Plaridel Bohol II, who gave at least P1,486,722. —BAP/KG, GMA News