Robredo: Showing alleged sex video won’t contribute to ‘substantial’ discussion in House hearing

Vice President Leni Robredo on Thursday expressed her concern over lawmakers’ plan to show the alleged sex video of Sen. Leila de Lima before the House inquiry on the proliferation of drugs inside the New Bilibid Prison. 

In a statement, Robredo said the move violates De Lima’s rights and may also go against penal laws.

The Vice President—who served one term as representative of Camarines Sur’s third district—also said doing so will likely not add substance to the proceedings.

“As a former legislator, I fail to see how this will contribute to a substantial discussion of issues being taken up,” she said.

She added: “As a lawyer, I believe that this act may be a violation of penal laws. And as a long-time advocate for human and women’s rights, I am profoundly disturbed by a proposal that amounts to the public shaming of a woman and the infliction of grave harm on her dignity as a human person.”

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">READ: VP <a href="https://twitter.com/lenirobredo">@lenirobredo</a>&#39;s statement on plan to show alleged sex video of Sen. De Lima in House hearing on drug trade in New Bilibid Prison. <a href="https://t.co/wJ4dJfs7vr">pic.twitter.com/wJ4dJfs7vr</a></p>&mdash; R-A. Dioquino (@AicaDioquino) <a href="https://twitter.com/AicaDioquino/status/781430880002723840">September 29, 2016</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Justice Sec. Vitaliano Aguirre II had said the supposed sex video featuring De Lima and her alleged paramour, former driver Ronnie Dayan, could be used against her in court to establish her complicity in the illegal drug trade in the national penitentiary. 

Aguirre said he can present the three sex videos in their possession if De Lima would deny her romantic relationship with Dayan or any other man, adding that the House justice committee that’s conducting the investigation wanted to play the video in its televised inquiry. 

House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez later said he sees nothing wrong if the alleged sex video would be played during the House inquiry. 

Alvarez said the video should be shown only if it would help establish De Lima’s personal relationships with people who would be behind the drug operations there. 

But Robredo believes “it is critical that the members and leadership of the House… keep the proceedings calm, sober, and objective as the investigation proceeds,” as the inquiry has stirred “strong sentiments” and “passionate debate” among the public.

“It is my earnest hope that all of us in public service, including my former colleagues in the House, [will] do our utmost to maintain a rational and respectful level of discourse, with the same passion that we zealously pursue the truth,” she said.

She added: “Let us work together to establish a culture of respect and professionalism, both in government and in the larger sphere of public discussion. I have every faith that we will be up to this challenge.”

Earlier, De Lima’s party-mates at the Senate, her fellow lady senators, and other lawmakers at the House opposed the idea of showing the said video, the existence of which the neophyte senator has already denied. 

Robredo is currently the top elected official of the Liberal Party, where De Lima also belongs. 

The senator, who served briefly as chairperson of the Senate committee on human rights, has been accused of using the hearing on alleged extrajudicial killings as part of the party’s alleged plot to unseat President Rodrigo Duterte, whom she has long criticized, even as the chair of the Commission on Human Rights.

Robredo and LP officials have denied the existence of the said plan. — RSJ, GMA News