Dayan hunted in Pangasinan hometown

DAGUPAN CITY, Philippines – The hunt is on for Ronnie Dayan, the former driver-bodyguard and alleged lover of Sen. Leila de Lima, after the House of Representatives cited him in contempt and ordered his arrest for his failure to appear before the congressional inquiry on alleged illegal drug operations inside the New Bilibid Prison.

Senior Supt. Ronald Lee, acting provincial police director of Pangasinan, told reporters here yesterday they started looking for Dayan even if they had not yet received a copy of his  arrest warrant.

Lee said Dayan was last seen in his hometown Urbiztondo in Pangasinan about three or four weeks ago after he became controversial due to his alleged links with De Lima, whom President Duterte accused of benefiting from the NBP drug trade.

“He is not seen in his house and his relatives claimed he (was) not going there,” Lee said.

“They will surely deny he is there even if he is there,” he added.

Dayan owns two houses in Barangay Galarin, Urbiztondo. The orange house, a bungalow, is occupied by his relatives and children but they are not aware as to who is living in the bigger white house, Lee said.

Dayan and De Lima used to come to Galarin for brief vacations in the past and would stay in the white house, police said.

Lee said even Dayan’s fighting cocks were no longer there and he had reportedly sold his farm tractor.

While Lee is not aware of the P100,000 reward offered by the Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption for information on Dayan’s whereabouts, he said this would make the task of law enforcers in hunting Dayan easier.

Lee said there were rumors that Dayan lived in Mangatarem town with his young girlfriend, who was his neighbor.

Dayan’s wife does not live in Urbiztondo and records show their marriage is not annulled, Lee said.

On Oct. 2, Lee said they served a summons issued by the House for Dayan to appear in the congressional inquiry. It was received by his sister.

Meanwhile, reports said the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) had taken into custody the nephew of De Lima, Jose Adrian Dera alias Jad de Vera, who allegedly collected drug money inside the NBP to fund her senatorial bid.

No NBI official, however, could confirm the information.

But Supt. Amante Daro, commander of the Manila Police District’s Station 11, said that Dera and his lawyer were invited by authorities to shed light on the alleged transactions of illegal drugs in Binondo, Manila.

Daro said he decided to turn him over to the NBI upon learning that Dera, also De Lima’s security aide when she was justice secretary, was among the persons of interest in the House probe on the alleged drug operations inside the national penitentiary. – With Ghio Ong