Senator Leila De Lima broke down while giving her statement about the stabbing incident that killed Chinese drug lord Tony Co dead, Jaybee Sebastian, Peter Co and Vicente Sy wounded at the New Bilibid Prison on Wednesday, September 28, 2016.
Initial reports said that Sebastian, Peter and Tony Co were rushed to the Muntinlupa Medical Center, while another inmate Vicente Sy was taken to the NBP Hospital.
Meanwhile, De Lima denied allegations linking her to the incident. She said the issues are fabricated by President Rodrigo Duterte and his men who are ‘cowards, fools, liars.’
“Arrest me now! That’s what you want. Put me in jail now. I’m here! Do what you want to me, Mr President. I’ll wait for you,” the senator said.
“Please stop it. In your desperation, Mr President, to malign me, you didn’t consider how the nation and the world sees you. You are now a laughing stock…not me,” she added.
“I’m innocent. Stop it. You’re making mistakes, you have different versions. You’re inventing all sorts of things. Stop it.”
The 57-year-old senator said she would not leave the country to “escape,” saying “there is nothing to escape from.” “I wasn’t raised by my father to be a coward.”
Duterte has long accused the lady senator of condoning the drug trade inside the national penitentiary while she was justice secretary.