Leila De Lima on Gloria Macapagal Arroyo: "No way will I resign or apologize."

Leila De Lima on Gloria Macapagal Arroyo: "No way will I resign or apologize."


The Malacañang defended Justice Secretary Leila de Lima and said she was “merely doing her job” when she announced unverified information that former President Gloria Arroyo would seek political asylum in the Dominican Republic, a claim the Caribbean state has denied.

The Arroyo camp said De Lima shamed the Philippines before the international community in her bid to “persecute” the former President and to advance her political ambition.

But deputy presidential spokeswoman Abigail Valte said on Sunday that no international embarrassment resulted when Dominican Republic Foreign Minister Carlos Morales Troncoso said his government had not received any application for asylum from Arroyo.

“All this is just part of the noise being generated by the Arroyo camp to divert attention from the real issues,” Valte told the Manila Standard.

“The Secretary of Justice was asked a question, she replied matter-of-factly that the information was unverified. She was merely doing her job.”

Arroyo’s spokeswoman, Elena Bautista-Horn, said the government was so obsessed with putting Arroyo behind bars that its allies were resorting to irresponsible statements.

“We have been shamed before the Dominican Republic and the international community,” Horn said in a radio interview on Sunday.

“It is a shame we had to drag the Dominican Republic into a domestic mess.”

De Lima had earlier told reporters she had received a tip through a text message that the Arroyos were seeking political asylum.

Horn accused the government of trying to “railroad” the cases filed against the former President.

She recalled President Benigno Aquino III’s pronouncement that the cases against Arroyo would be filed in November, hinting that Mrs. Arroyo would spend Christmas in jail.

“No formal charges have been filed against Arroyo yet, but this administration already has a timetable on when she should be jailed,” Horn said.

“So do we expect a fair trial from this administration if it already gave a directive to jail her?”

De Lima on Sunday said the investigation into reports that Arroyo was seeking asylum would continue. She rejected calls for her to resign or issue a public apology after a denial from the Dominican Republic.

De Lima said the denial would not stop her department from investigating the report, especially because she had again received another information from a “credible source” that Arroyo was planning to seek asylum in two other countries.

She declined to confirm whether those two countries were Spain and Portugal and denied any liability for making pronouncements based on unverified reports.

“No way will I resign or apologize,” De Lima said.

“Why should I as I [have] repeatedly clarified the info regarding the Dominican Republic did not come from me. I only confirmed receipt of such information when asked by media.”

Arroyo’s lawyer had earlier called for De Lima’s resignation.

Raul Lambino said the official statement from the Dominican Republic was “solid proof that De Lima and Malacañang are peddling lies to the teeth, concocting falsehoods and perpetuating injustices to the extent of not only embarrassing the Arroyos but endangering the Philippines’ friendly relations with other countries.”

- Source