Ex-De Lima clerk denies bank deposits

MANILA, Philippines - One of two former staff members of Sen. Leila de Lima when she was still justice secretary has reached out to her and denied reports that she would testify against the senator, who is being linked to drug trafficking by the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI).

In a text message disseminated to reporters, De Lima yesterday said that “Bogs,” referring to the nickname of Edna Obuyes, a former contractual clerk at the office of the secretary (Osec) of the DOJ, contacted her recently after seeing her name being mentioned in news reports regarding the alleged involvement of the senator in the illegal drug trade.

“Mam gud pm po. Sobra na po ang kasinungalingan nila. Hindi po un ang statement ko mam. Kahit ano po ang gawin nila sa akin mananatili po akong tatayo sa katotohanan po mam. At hindi po ako mag-witness sa isang malaking kasinungalingan po. Sa totoo lang po ako (They are foisting too many lies. That’s not my statement. Whatever they do to me, I will stand for the truth. I will not be a witness to a big lie. I’m only for the truth.) God bless po love you po,” Obuyes declared in the text message she sent De Lima.

The senator noted that Obuyes also posted a message on her Facebook page regarding the same issue.

In the Facebook post, Obuyes addressed her friends and relatives, saying she was surprised about her involvement in the issues being faced by De Lima, whom she referred to as “LML.”

Obuyes posted that when she was invited to the office of Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II, she was glad because she thought she would be hired again under a new employment contract: “Nung pinatawag po ko sa loob ng office ni Sec. Aguirre masaya po akong pumasok sa akala kung pipirma po ako ng bagong contract.”

But she was surprised when she was presented with receipts amounting to P24 million from the Banco de Oro, with her pictures with De Lima attached: “Pero laking gulat ko na ang inihain sa harapan ko ay BDO bank receipt amounting to 24 million for the month of March and April 2014, kalakip ng mga pictures namin ni senator de lima,” Obuyes said in the post.

Obuyes declared that she was still working at the time at the Commission on Human Rights (CHR), which De Lima used to head. She said it would be impossible for her to use her nickname, “Bogs,” in the bank deposit: “Na yung time na yan nasa chr pa po ko. at ang pangalan ko dun ay bogs c obuyes, na imposible ko namang gamitin yun dahil nickname ko lang po un.”

Obuyes said it was too much and pleaded for an end to the attacks on De Lima: “sobra na tama na. maawa na sana sila kay sen. LML.”

The former clerk said her statements all belied the allegations against De Lima, but what kept coming out in the news was the opposite: “ang laman ng statement ko po ay puro pag tatanggi na walang katotohanan ang lahat. pero bakit ang lumalabas ay against sen. de lima na ang statement ko.”

“pls... pray for me and for our sen. LML,” Obuyes added.

Aguirre told reporters the other day that both Obuyes and another DOJ Osec staff member, Jonathan “Jong” Caranto, executed affidavits in relation to the issues being raised against De Lima.

De Lima has denied the allegations against her and warned Aguirre and NBI Director Dante Gierran that they could be charged with perjury if they insist on coming out with fabricated statements to pin her down.

“Do you know how I feel about these? You cannot imagine. In fact I am numb already. My feelings have been numbed already by this crazy, insane accusations. They have done everything except what I have been asking for – a formal charge and complaint so I can defend myself in a fair hearing. Pero mukhang nahihirapan po silang mag-imbento ng ebidensya. At nag-uumpisa na po ang pag-imbento ng mga ebidensya (It seems they are having a hard time inventing evidence. The inventing of evidence has started),” De Lima said in a speech delivered before Rotarians in Makati City last Thursday.

“These are the extent of illegal methods this government is willing to commit in order to silence me. It has already become a personal obsession of the President himself. It is as if they are afraid that if they cannot destroy me and pin me down, with all the government machinery and executive power behind them, they will simply look like impotent fools before a defenseless woman whom they have dishonored and maligned,” she added.

De Lima said that what is happening in the country right now is the “disempowerment of the people.”

“Slowly but surely, civil society is being separated from political power, whether through our own fault of surrendering our rights to the vision of a strongman and trusting that he can do no wrong, or out of fear, hoping that the repression does not reach our doorsteps and that we do not become another victim of the war on drugs,” she said.

The Facebook post of Obuyes has garnered 34 reactions, 23 comments – mostly showing support for Obuyes – and has been shared around 3,000 times.

The STAR tried to reach Obuyes through her Facebook account but has not received any reply.

Cash deposit slips obtained from DOJ sources showed that the alleged deposits were made on March 7, 2014 (P4.8 million), March 21, 2014 (P7.2 million), April 4, 2014 (P2.6 million), April 18, 2014 (P4.8 million) and April 24, 2014 (P4.6 million). 

Another former De Lima staff at the DOJ, Caranto claimed in his affidavit that the then justice secretary instructed him to deposit around P20,000 to P60,000 to the account of De Lima’s former driver and alleged lover Ronnie Dayan.

Caranto also previously denied any involvement in the drug trade in the national penitentiary from which Duterte claimed De Lima personally profited.

Caranto also confirmed that he and Dayan are distant relatives.

It was earlier reported that Obuyes and Caranto had submitted affidavits to the NBI claiming that they were told by De Lima to deposit millions of pesos in a bank account that was not in her name.

Caranto said that he wanted to talk with Aguirre to clear his name on the issues, and that he underwent a lie detector test at the NBI as per Aguirre’s instruction. – With Ghio Ong