I do not really know what Sen. Gordon’s beef with me is. He is the only source of the supposed rumor that I used the GCTA IRR to shake down prisoners. He repeats the same lie today on ANC’s Headstart. (My staff immediately sent to me the transcription of said interview.) But his loose tongue again belies his logic.
Gordon says the GCTA Law removed the powers of the SOJ over the release of prisoners, and so what I did was tweak the IRR so I can retain control over the release of prisoners in exchange for bribes to fund my campaign.
But astoundingly, in the same breath and without realizing the patent contradiction in his narrative, Gordon lauds former DOJ Secretary (and now Supreme Court Associate Justice) Alfredo Benjamin Caguioa for issuing a department order mandating that the release of prisoners convicted of heinous crimes must first be approved by him.
Would it not have been easier, Sen. Gordon, if I issued the same Department Order instead of supposedly tweaking the GCTA IRR? Did not SOJ Caguioa’s action likewise expanded the SOJ’s power over the release of prisoners, the very same thing you are charging me with in supposedly tweaking the GCTA IRR?
Ano ba talaga? Kapag iba ang gumawa, kahanga-hanga sa iyo, pero kapag ako na ay siguradong ilegal at kriminal ang layunin?
Another point. Kung masama yung layunin ko ukol sa GCTA at para mapakinabangan ko, bakit namin ginawang prospective at hindi retroactive yung IRR, na sasakop sana sa mas maraming recipients ng GCTA? The very prospective application of the IRR limited or restricted to a substantial degree the number of qualified grantees, until the Supreme Court declared its retroactivity in its 25 June 2019 decision in Inmates of NBP v. Sec. de Lima et al. Ako pa nga ang kinasuhan ng mga inmates!
Hindi ito nalalayo sa usapin ng mga bintang nila na protector daw ako ng mga NBP drug lords. Ako nga ang nag-raid sa kanila at kinasuhan din ako ng ilan sa mga ‘Bilibid 19’!
Tigilan mo na ako Sen. Gordon. Nakakulong ako at walang kakayahan na makipagsabayan sa publiko at media sa paninira mo sa akin. Sana sa susunod na tirahin mo ako ay sa mukha ko at magkaharap tayo, at may pagkakataon akong pasinungalingan ang iyong mga malisyosong paratang sa akin. Why did you not invite me in your Sanchez / Faeldon / GCTA hearings? Due process for Faeldon and Albayalde, but no due process for your colleague?
Sa ngayon ay wala akong kalaban-laban, lalo na sa isang tao na daig pa ang palengkera sa pang-intriga sa kapwa tao.
Stop defaming me, Sen. Gordon! Stop using me to please, and “redeem” yourself to Duterte.
Your track record as a public servant shows that you are more than capable of being just a mere stool pigeon to this man presently ruling our country. All you have to do is to stand up to him, like I did. You have no secrets to hide anyway, right?
(Access the handwritten copy of Dispatch from Crame No. 629 here: https://issuu.com/senatorleilam.delima/docs/dispatch_629)