De Lima on sex video: It is not me

MANILA, Philippines (UPDATED 4:55 p.m.) — Sen. Leila de Lima on Thursday denied appearing in the alleged sex videos that Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II offered to present at the House of Representatives' panel hearing.

"It is not me, as far as I'm concerned," De Lima said in an interview on ANC.

De Lima said she has refused to see the videos, dismissing them as "nonsense."

Aguirre earlier offered to show the sex videos at the hearing of the House committee on justice looking into De Lima's alleged links to the drug trade inside national penitentiary Bilbid. Aguirre's camp said De Lima's driver, Ronnie Dayan, would collect drug money from inmates to fund his boss' election campaign.

While Aguirre and President Rodrigo Duterte claimed De Lima had an illicit affair with Dayan, De Lima said she only has a friendly relationship with him, but refused to elaborate on the matter.

Aguirre, meanwhile, claimed that De Lima's relationship with Dayan can be seen in three sex videos, but he also admitted not having a copy of the clips.

Denying allegations on her links to the drug trade, De Lima on Wednesday decried what she called as disrespect for women after Aguirre and the House leadership expressed willingness to show the alleged video at the probe into the drug trade.

"It is a violation. A gross violation of my rights and my dignity as a woman," De Lima said in the ANC interview, a day after she made the impassioned plea to government officials to respect women.

She said people accusing her of having sex videos are doing everything to destroy her.

Women's groups and female lawmakers blocked attempts to have the video shown. The House justice committee afterward announced that it will instead present other witnesses without showing the controversial clips.

No viewing, but details heard

Joenel Sanchez, a former security aide of De Lima, appeared at the House panel hearing on Thursday, describing the close relationship between De Lima and Dayan.

Sanchez said he worked for De Lima from 2010 to 2015 during her stint as chief of the Justice department.

Reading his affidavit before the House panel, Sanchez said he accompanied De Lima and Dayan in several in out-of-town trips where the two would be staying in one room.

"Every time we would go to the grocery store, (Secretary of Justice) De Lima would purchase Fundador and Marlboro, Ronnie Dayan's favorites," Sanchez said.

He also claimed having seen a copy of at least two sex videos shown to him by a certain Bantam, another former driver of De Lima, on Dayan's cellphone.

"While watching, I felt awkward, so I stopped watching," Sanchez said.

In hearing Sanchez's testimony, the House justice committee led by Oriental Mindoro Rep. Reynaldo Umali is trying to establish the De Lima's ties with drug operators at the Bilibid prison.

De Lima last month called the allegations of her involvement in the illegal market as "all lies."