De Lima calls out Jinggoy for using her as punchline

Detained Senator and reelectionist Leila de Lima on Wednesday called out former senator Jinggoy Estrada for using her as a punchline during the proclamation rally of UniTeam in Bulacan.

De Lima was referring to Estrada's remark wherein the ex-senator quipped "Mic ba ni de Lima 'yun" referring to a defective mic that Estrada was initially using during the program.

Estrada, who is out on bail, is facing a P183-million plunder case in connection with the P10 billion pork barrel scam filed during the stint of De Lima as Justice secretary under the Aquino administration.

"Only the likes of Jinggoy will use another candidate in a cheap joke instead of presenting a solid platform and addressing issues confronting them," De Lima said in a statement.

"Totoo nga: Mas maingay ang lata pag walang laman (Ain't that the truth: An empty can makes a lot of noise)," she added.

Estrada is running for the Senate like De Lima in the May elections. Estrada also ran for a Senate seat in 2019 under the administration ticket of President Rodrigo Duterte but lost.

De Lima, on the other hand, has been in detention on drug charges since February 2017. She has maintained innocence over these charges and accused the administration of politically persecuting her over her criticisms of drug war killings.

As this developed, De Lima said Estrada's quip on her only reminded the Filipino people that she waged a fight for the public's right to bring plunderers to justice and take back the public funds stolen from them.

"Siguradong hindi imbento ang mga ebidensya laban sa mga akusado noon. After all, kung mag-iimbento na lang ng ebidensya ang mga taga-NBI, DOJ at OMB, "sexy" would not be at the top of their list of code names for you," she added.

(I am sure that the evidence against you was not concocted out of thin air. If the evidence was made up, the NBI, DOJ, and the Office of the Ombudsman would not have 'sexy' as one of code names for you.)

GMA News Online reached out to Estrada's camp but has yet to receive a reply as of posting time.—AOL, GMA News