Ex-DOJ clerk denies bank account, statements vs De Lima

MANILA, Philippines – A former employee of Senator Leila De Lima has denied owning the bank account where millions of pesos were allegedly deposited in 2014.

Edna “Bogs” Obuyes is one of the two former employees who reportedly executed affidavits against the former justice secretary at the Department of Justice (DOJ) on Thursday, September 1.

But in a Facebook post, Obuyes denied making a statement against her former boss, and also disowned the bank account showing a P24-million deposit under her name.

Obuyes said she was surprised when she was called into the office of Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II and presented with the bank receipts.

“Laking gulat ko na ang inihain sa harapan ko ay BDO bank receipt amounting P24 million for the month of March and April 2014, kalakip ng mga pictures namin ni Senator De Lima,” Obuyes wrote.

(I was surprised when I was presented with a BDO bank receipt amounting to P24 million for the months of March and April 2014, along with pictures of Senator De Lima and me.)

Obuyes, who was a member of De Lima’s staff when the senator was DOJ secretary, said that at the time the deposits were allegedly made, she was with the Commission of Human Rights.

Obuyes added that it was “impossible” for her to use the name “Bogs” in the bank receipts because it was a nickname.

One of the deposit slips also showed a P4.8-million deposit made on April 18, 2014. The date, however, fell on Good Friday that year. Bank operations are closed during that period.

“Ang laman ng statement ko po ay puro pagtatanggi na walang katotohanan ang lahat. Pero bakit ang lumalabas ay against Senator de Lima na ang statement ko?” Obuyes added.

On Thursday, the DOJ said two former employees of De Lima executed affidavits against De Lima. One of them, a certain Jonathan “Jong” Caranto, claimed that De Lima ordered him to deposit millions of pesos to the bank account supposedly owned by De Lima’s former driver, Ronnie Dayan.

President Rodrigo Duterte had earlier accused Dayan of being De Lima’s bagman, collecting millions from drug lords inside the New Bilibid Prison.

But De Lima, citing unnamed sources, said her two former employees were manipulated to create “fabricated” evidence against her.

“Ganun nga daw, parang pinapaamin sa kanila na meron silang accounts na may certain deposit slips na may millions, at parang pinapaamin sa kanila na ako ang nagpabukas noon para doon daw ipadaan ‘yung mga nanggagaling sa drug lords,”she said.

(They said the two were asked to admit that they have accounts with certain deposit slips indicating millions of pesos. They were asked to admit that I was the one who asked them to open the accounts, which were used to receive money from drug lords.)

The former DOJ secretary has repeatedly denied links to the illegal drug trade. – Rappler.com