The House Committee on Justice has decided to subpoena Ronnie Dayan, the former driver-bodyguard of Senator Leila de Lima, to compel his attendance in the panel’s resumption of its hearing on the alleged involvement of the Liberal Party senator in the illegal drugs trade in the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) on Oct. 5.
Oriental Mindoro Rep. Reynaldo Umali, panel chairman said they will issue subpoena against Dayan, who allegedly received narcotics money for De Lima during her stint as the secretary of the Department of Justice (DoJ).
“We arrived at a decision to issue subpoena against him (Ronnie Palisoc Dayan),” he said.
He warned Dayan, who already went into hiding, against ignoring the subpoena. “We will be forced to issue arrest warrant upon the approval of Speaker should he (Dayan) ignore the subpoena against him,” Umali said.
During the House hearings, it was disclosed that Dayan purportedly received P10 million that former National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Deputy Director Rafael Ragos and Jovencio Ablen Jr. supposedly delivered to the Parañaque City house of de Lima, who was then the DoJ Secretary.
Deputy Speaker and Batangas Rep. Raneo Abu said Dayan should attend the hearing “for the sake of transparency and accountability” and to “enlighten the public.”
“We want to ferret out the truth here and I am confident that the Speaker will permit our request by signing the subpoena
against Dayan and later possibly an arrest warrant against him,” he said. (Charissa M. Luci)