Sen. Leila M. de Lima may opt to send a lawyer or send her written statement to answer the allegations hurled against her on the proliferation of illegal drugs at the New Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa City during her stint as Secretary of Justice.
Oriental Mindoro Rep. Reynaldo Umali, chairperson of the House Committee on Justice which is set to conduct the NBP probe tomorrow, said since De Lima likened their panel hearing to a kangaroo court, she may send her written explanation or send her lawyer to shed light on the issues hurled against her.
“Siyempre, pag ganon ang description mo ay in all likelihood ay hindi siya magpa-participate. Pero hindi naman kami nagusap. We are just trying to do our job here. I’m sure naintindihan niya ‘yon. Kaya we will just do it. And whatever comes out on Tuesday, hopefully, makita niya na ‘yong committee will be fair to her,” Umali said in a radio interview.
“At any point in time that she wants to participate either just through a statement or send a lawyer there etc., we will gladly accommodate that,” he said.
House Speaker Pantaleon “Bebot” Alvarez had urged De Lima to voluntarily face the House probe and clear her name.
Umali said they invited De Lima to attend the hearing as he assured that they would conduct a fair-and-square probe. (Charissa M. Luci)
