DOJ files criminal raps vs. De Lima for advising Ronnie Dayan to snub House probe

Criminal charges were filed on Wednesday against Senator Leila de Lima before a Quezon City court for advising Ronnie Dayan to snub the investigation on the proliferation of illegal drugs inside the New Bilibid Prison.

De Lima was indicted by Assistant State Prosecutor Vilma Lopez-Sarmiento before the Quezon City Metropolitan Trial Court for violation of Article 150 (disobedience to summons of National Assembly) of the Revised Penal Code.

“Respondent’s (De Lima's) advice to Mr. Dayan through his daughter to hide and not to appear in the house inquiry constitutes an act amounting to restraining another to attend as a witness in the national assembly (now Congress of the Philippines) and inducing disobedience to a summon,” the DOJ resolution stated.

The filing was a result of the complaint filed by Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez along with Majority Leader Rodolfo Fariñas and House Committee on Justice chairman and Oriental Mindoro Rep. Reynaldo Umali with the Department of Justice last week.

If found guilty, De Lima may be slapped with fine and/or prison term of one to six months, according to the Revised Penal Code.

No bail was recommended by the DOJ in its charge sheet.

De Lima was also not asked to submit her defense to the complaint.

"We did not conduct any preliminary investigation because under the Rules on Summary Procedure, if the imposable penalty is less than 6 months, we can file it directly [in court] and, in fact, there are cases in which the imposable penalty is 4 years, 2 months, and one day that the investigating prosecutor need not conduct any preliminary investigation," OIC Prosecutor General Jorge Catalan Jr. said.

Dayan, a former driver-bodyguard and confessed former lover of De Lima, was arrested by the police in La Union on November 22, paving the way for his appearance before the House panel.

During the inquiry, Dayan denied collecting drug money from high profile inmates but admitted to receiving around P8 million from self-confessed drug distributor Kerwin Espinosa supposedly for De Lima's election bid.

Dayan also told congressmen that he went into hiding upon De Lima's advice, which was coursed through his daughter Hannah Mae in October. —ALG, GMA News