Echaves: Who let the dogs out?

THAT Sen. Leila De Lima would be facing drug-related charges was always expected; just a matter of time.

That these are non-bailable is neither a surprise. The masterminds want her to suffer further, another unraveling in the continuing saga of persecutions against the staunchest critic of the president of this land.

The lady senator is not oblivious to the orchestration. She herself tagged President Duterte as the man behind the “massive demolition job.”

The “bad blood” between them started in 2009. Then head of the Commission on Human Rights, she conducted a public hearing on the so-called Davao Death Squad.

Then the mayor of Davao City, Duterte denied the accusation. But he felt chastised and has not forgiven her. She now says, “this (the charges) is all part of a personal vendetta on his part.”

Unsurprisingly, when talk of the sex tape involving her and former driver Ronnie Dayan were fodder for malevolent creatures lurking in the dark halls of the House, Duterte said in October that the charges would “finish her career” and she would “rot in jail.”

Having said this, can Duterte’s Chief Legal Counsel Salvador Panelo be far behind?

Facing reporters last Friday, Panelo reportedly said, ““O e di ‘pag napatunayan na kasama siya sa drugs, e ‘di kulong siya. Matitikman na niya ang pinatikim niya kay Arroyo.”

On the same vein, Minority floor leader Quezon Rep. Danny Suarez chimed in, “Ang message ko lang kay Leila--karma ‘yang nangyayari sa’yo (My message to Leila is--karma is what’s happening to you).”

Of course, they’re talking about former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. To recall, she was barred from leaving the country in 2011 and so was detained for five years for the alleged misuse of P 366 million Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office intelligence funds.

Then the Secretary of Justice, de Lima also led the investigation against Arroyo for electoral fraud, and the National Broadband Network–ZTE deal.

Let’s not forget the humiliation de Lima faced when the majority group in the Senate replaced her as chairman of the committee on justice, as well as the tirades from Allan Peter Cayetano (Duterte’s running mate for vice-president) and Richard Gordon (notorious for grandstanding) during the Matobato hearings.

Then there’s Sandra Cam, president of the whistleblowers association, whose bid for a senate seat last year failed. A headline grabber, she boasted she would shake out more dirty linens about de Lima.

Can you now hear the dogs woof-woofing in that controversial song “Who Let the Dogs Out?” (woof, woof, woof, woof/When the party was nice, the party was jumpin’ (hey, yippie, yi, yo/ And everybody having a ball (hah, ho, yippie yi yo/ I tell the fellas ‘Start the name callin’/ (yippie yi yo).”

There’s a demolition job all right! But does the buck passing end with Duterte?

So, how true is it that the biggest donor to Duterte’s campaign was Arroyo with P 250 Million, and she had two conditions: her release from arrest, and the demolition of Leila de Lima?

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