MANILA, Philippines – Amid the continuing attacks, Sen. Leila de Lima yesterday said she is set to embark on a legal counteroffensive to protect her from what she described as President Duterte’s “blatant abuse of power.”
De Lima said she would file petitions before the Supreme Court (SC) as part of legal moves against Duterte and her critics.
According to De Lima, she intends to file petitions for the issuance of a writ of habeas data and writ of amparo before the SC that will also, in effect, test the doctrine of presidential immunity from suits.
“We’re contemplating on cases where I will implead the President himself. Because of the extent and atrociousness of what they’re doing to me and what they’ve done to me,” De Lima said.
“I don’t think the authors of the doctrine of the president’s immunity from suit have ever comprehended a situation like this where there is blatant abuse of power,” she said.
A writ of amparo means the SC would direct the executive branch to ensure that no harm befalls the senator. The issuance of a writ of habeas data, on the other hand, would compel the government to produce documents and information that is sought by the petitioner.
De Lima earlier said she no longer felt safe and considered herself as a “dead woman walking” because of death threats that she has been receiving.
Her lawyers are also preparing a battery of charges to be filed against certain officials of the Duterte administration before the Office of the Ombudsman and the courts for their acts of persecution and oppression.
Among the charges De Lima may file against administration officials are violations of the anti-graft law, violations of the code of conduct of public officials, disbarment and civil action for damages.
“Of course it would require massive legal work and my constraint is time because I have to work in the Senate and money, but I do need and I cry for justice,” she said.
De Lima added the filing of a criminal complaint against her was better than being pilloried before the public in the ongoing congressional inquiry.
“This (complaint) is most welcome. Instead of stoning me in a House inquiry, they should start filing cases in the proper venue,” she said.
De Lima, however, said the lawyers of the Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption led by Ferdinand Topacio should know that such a case against her for acts done while she was secretary of justice should be filed with the ombudsman and not the Department of Justice (DOJ).
Though the DOJ may initially take cognizance, De Lima said the case against her would eventually be filed by the DOJ with the ombudsman for another round of fact-finding investigation.
She said the complainants have wasted time by filing the complaint with the DOJ.
“Unless they have other reasons for filing it with the DOJ instead of the ombudsman. Maybe because that is the domain of (Justice Secretary Vitaliano) Aguirre, the master of fakery. Justice under Aguirre is fake,” De Lima said.
She challenged all those filing cases against her to file directly with the ombudsman, which is the proper agency with jurisdiction, instead of the DOJ.
