SC orders De Lima to reply to disbarment complaint

MANILA, Philippines (Philippines News Agency) — The Supreme Court (SC) on Tuesday directed Sen. Leila de Lima to comment on the disbarment complaint stemming from her relationship with her supposedly married former driver Ronnie Dayan.

The complaint, filed by lawyer Fernando Perito late last year, asked the high court to remove De Lima from the Philippine bar after she admitting having an affair with Dayan.

Supreme Court spokesperson Theodore Te said the high court's en banc directed De Lima to comment on the complaint within 10 days.

"In the matter of Atty. Fernando P. Perito vs. Atty. Leila M. De Lima, the Court directed respondent De Lima to submit her comment to the complaint-affidavit for disbarment filed by petitioner within 10 days from notice of the Court’s resolution," Te said.

Perito cited as evidence De Lima's television interview aired on November 14 where she admitted having an affair with Dayan.

A similar disbarment complaint against De Lima was filed before the SC by the Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption (VACC) and former National Bureau of Investigation deputy directors Reynaldo Esmeralda and Ruel Lasala, who were also complainants in the drug trafficking and graft charges against her at the Department of Justice.

The complainants accused De Lima of gross immorality and for violating lawyers' code of professional responsibility.

In 2012, Perito also filed disbarment complaint against De Lima for her alleged defiance in following a Supreme Court temporary restraining order issued in November 2011 when she stopped former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and her husband Jose Miguel Arroyo from leaving the country to seek medical treatment.  — PNA / Christopher Lloyd T. Caliwan