House won’t apologize for scrutinizing Leila-Ronnie affair

MANILA, Philippines – Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez and leaders of the House of Representatives have defended the lawmakers’ line of questioning on Ronnie Dayan, Sen. Leila de Lima’s former driver-bodyguard-lover that women’s groups and netizens found to be offensive.

“Enough with hypocrisy,” Alvarez said. “(De Lima) is a high-ranking national official. Let’s not deprive the people of the whole truth.”

Alvarez said Dayan’s “romantic involvement with De Lima had to be asked to test his credibility in being trusted by her for receiving money from a person he didn’t know in a public parking lot.”

Majority Leader Rodolfo Fariñas and Deputy Speaker Fredenil Castro had the same opinion.

Castro said he stands by his question and the reason he asked those questions. “The House does not have to make an apology because the point of view of critics of last week’s hearing is wrong,” he said in Filipino.

“My line of questioning is important to reach the conclusion if Dayan is a credible or believable witness.” 

Members of the committee on justice, chaired by Oriental Mindoro Rep. Reynaldo Umali, who grilled Dayan last week have been urged to apologize to the public, ostensibly borne out of allegedly sexually charged queries.

Some perceived juicy details of the illicit Dayan-De Lima relationship, which lasted seven years from 2007 to 2014, came out, instead of the lawmakers prying into the proliferation of drugs inside the national penitentiary, which was the panel’s objective.

De Lima found an ally in women senators and Vice President Leni Robredo, who condemned the line of questioning of lawmakers, although the former Camarines Sur lawmaker believes De Lima should still answer the charges.

Castro said public officials should not be onion-skinned in facing public scrutiny.

“These critics are taking sides,” he said in Filipino. “These are people who want the public to believe only what they are saying.

“See who are those talking. Are they independent people? See who are criticizing. Are they apolitical? Analyze their personality,” Castro said.  “Before you speak, face the mirror and look at yourself.”

Not because of gender

Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II pointed out that De Lima is facing criminal charges and is not being attacked because of her gender. 

He urged De Lima to stop raising the gender issue to defend herself from drug charges.

“She should drop the gender issue and just disprove the allegations against her in appropriate venues and stop beating around the bush,” he said.

The Department of Justice has summoned De Lima and other respondents to a preliminary investigation on drug trafficking charges to start this Friday.

Aguirre said De Lima is using the gender card and claiming that President Duterte and his allies are attacking and publicly ridiculing her over her admitted “frailties of a woman,” particularly her previous affair with former driver Ronnie Dayan, to gain “public sympathy.”

De Lima said her right as a woman has been violated when Dayan testified before the House of Representatives last week and lawmakers grilled him on details of their seven-year affair. 

“As a woman, it breaks my heart that my private life and personal relationship have become subject of the public and Congress’ ridicule,” she said in a statement in reaction to Dayan’s testimony.

De Lima has raised the same issue in her habeas data petition before the Supreme Court, alleging that the administration is violating the magna carta for women.

However, Aguirre said lawmakers raised valid and relevant questions to the subject of the investigation.

“Lawmakers like Fred Castro and Harry Roque are very good lawyers,” he said.

“They are just establishing the deep relationship between De Lima and Dayan, that because of this relationship Dayan had enjoyed her trust, which strengthens our position that had De Lima not trusted Dayan, she could have not entrusted him to receive money from Kerwin Espinosa and other drug lords.”

Aguirre said the lawmakers’ line of questioning was actually common in court trials.

“Representatives Fred Castro and Harry Roque, being experienced trial lawyers, were simply testing the credibility of Dayan,” he said.

“The questions asked were relevant to the issue involving his intimate relationship with De Lima.” 

Aguirre said if De Lima only has herself to blame if she feels her womanhood was violated regarding  her relationship with Dayan.

“She was the one who raised the issue of ‘frailties of woman’ in her TV interview where she admitted her affair with Dayan,” he said.

Aguirre said De Lima’s admission in a television interview that she had a romantic relationship with Dayan for “a few years” was a voluntary act of self-incrimination.

Such admission has bolstered the allegations against Dayan and De Lima, he added.

Aguirre said De Lima’s admission strengthens the probability that Dayan had collected money from high-profile inmates for her financial needs and campaign funds.

De Lima previously denied having an affair with Dayan and even cited the improbability of a simple driver or bodyguard being able to collect millions of drug money under her watch, he added.

Aguirre said De Lima’s admission could seal her fate in the disbarment case that the Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption filed against her before the Supreme Court.

“There is no more doubt now that she had an affair with a married man. That is immorality,” he said.

De Lima could face possible charges of adultery over her affair with Dayan, Aguirre said.