CEBUANO businessman Peter Lim yesterday broke his silence to wild speculations that he is now staying abroad.
“I am here. And I appeal to the media to stop writing speculations about me. I repeat, I am innocent and there is no case against me,” Lim said in an interview with SunStar Cebu.
He said he was planning to go abroad for a family trip or a business trip, or a medical check-up. But he later backed out because the media may again put him in the headline that he tried to flee.
“There’s nothing wrong if I go out. But I’ll be back because Cebu is my home. I love the Philippines. I love the Filipino people. I love my family and friends,” Lim said.
He said he is now 70 years old and he has been in legal businesses for 50 years.
He added that he felt sad when the media printed that President Rodrigo Duterte accused him of being involved in illegal drugs.
What the President said was that the Peter Lim was a Chinese national and if he comes back, he will die at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA).
When he met Duterte in Davao City, he said he was told by the president, “Please help us clear you. Have yourself investigated by the NBI (National Bureau of Investigation).”
“Is that an accusation?” Lim said.
Lim underwent an NBI investigation and in October 2016, Department of Justice (DOJ) Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II cleared him, saying he is the wrong Peter Lim.
Lim said a newspaper committed another blunder yesterday when it reported that confessed drug lord Kerwin Espinosa identified him as his supplier.
He said it was clear in the Senate investigation that Kerwin admitted that he doesn’t know him and that they have never met.
Lim instructed his lawyers to study what charges they can filed in court against members of the media who made false report that damaged their reputation and endangered his life and his family.
Earlier, Philippine Drug Enforcement Agencies (PDEA) 7 Director Yogi Ruiz, said that they will check on Lim’s whereabout.
“I am always here all the time,” Lim said.