Arroyo legal counsel: De Lima ‘going bananas’

The legal counsel of Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on Friday criticized Senator Leila De Lima for accusing the former President of allegedly using President Rodrigo Duterte to exact revenge against her, saying the senator is “going bananas.”

“In her desperate attempt to extricate herself from a legal quagmire of her own doing, it appears that Sen. Leila De Lima is lashing out at everything that moves and attributing blame on everyone but herself. It seems that De Lima is going bananas, specifically of the ‘saba’ variety,” Atty. Ferdinand Topacio said in a statement authorized by Arroyo.

In a media briefing at the Senate on Thursday, De Lima said “powerful” personalities whom she had investigated in the past have allegedly formed political alliances to make her life difficult.

“[These involve] high-profile cases. Some people keep on blaming me until now dun sa pagharang ko nung lalabas sa bansa 'yung dating Pangulo (Arroyo), 'di ba? And even the President is saying na I will suffer daw the same fate of former President GMA. In other words, I will rot in jail,” De Lima said.

De Lima has also accused a lawyer of Arroyo and a “powerful religious bloc,” as well as “one or two” senators involved in the multi-billion Priority Development Assistance Fund (pork barrel) scam of pinning her down.

Topacio called these allegations as “absurd.”

“While I cannot pretend to speak for the others pointed to by her, I must emphasize that Mrs. Arroyo is busy making up for lost time by serving her constituents and spending quality time with her family. She has better things to do than bother with a creature like De Lima, whose shenanigans will soon be her own undoing, even without any help from Mrs. Arroyo,” Topacio said.

Topacio said that instead of finger-pointing, De Lima should focus on answering accusations against her regarding her alleged involvement in the illegal trade inside the New Bilibid Prison (NBP).

“Her general protestations of innocence and empty claims that the evidence are ‘fabricated’ and the witnesses ‘tortured and intimidated’ ring hollow in the face of numerous interlocking testimonies corroborated not only by each other, but by the findings of a Congressional inquiry,” Topacio said.

Meanwhile, Topacio commended the anti-crime watchdog Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption (VACC) for doing its job.

VACC filed on Thursday a supplemental complaint containing findings of the House of Representatives justice committee, which pointed to De Lima's alleged involvement and possible accountability in the proliferation of the illegal drug trade inside the NBP during her term as Department of Justice secretary.

“Its officers, members and legal counsels serve on a purely volunteer basis, giving their time and risking their lives, to fight crime and bring its perpetrators before the bar of justice,” Topacio said.

“In the course of its existence, it has assisted countless crime victims and filed cases against thousands of persons on the basis of solid evidence available to it, without any political agenda,” he added.

Topacio said the cases against De Lima are not “payback,” but “a direct result of her official misconduct, her overweening desire for wealth, her naked political ambition, and her uncontrollable libidinous urges.”

“She should snap out of her state of denial and face the fact that the wheels of justice may grind slowly, but they grind exceedingly well,” he added. 

On Thursday, De Lima said she will file a case against Duterte "sooner than you think.

“That is settled already ... ‘yung mga kaso na ifa-file kasama ang Pangulo, because he’s at the top of all this. Kagagawan niya ‘tong lahat,” De Lima said during a media briefing. —KG, GMA News