FORMER Justice secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II has denied claims of former Bureau of Corrections (Bucor) officer-in-charge and deputy director for intelligence of the National Bureau of Investigation Rafael Marcos Ragos that he coerced him to link detained opposition Senator Leila de Lima to the illegal drug trade.
Aguirre said Ragos voluntarily offered the information he had against De Lima, which he testified under oath during various inquiries at the House of Representatives, Senate and the court, to correct an injustice.
He also pointed out that he was no longer with the Department of Justice when Ragos affirmed his statement against De Lima before the Regional Trial Court (RTC) of Muntinlupa in June 2019.
Aguirre served as the secretary of justice from July 1, 2016 to April 5, 2018.
“Mr. Rafael Ragos is downright lying!... I was genuinely surprised at the statement of Mr. Rafael Ragos that I coerced him to execute affidavits involving Senator Leila de Lima in the drug trade in the Bilibid prisons,” he said in a statement.
“It is farthest from the truth, I was never involved in any efforts to coerce him... Evidently, whatever pressure that Mr. Ragos claimed I exerted on him is non-existent by the time of his testimony before the RTC,” he added.
Aguirre questioned the timing of Ragos’ retraction, which was made ahead of the 2022 national and local elections in which De Lima is running again as a senator.
“This brings me to my next question, why only now? Why retract now when the May 9, 2022 national elections is only a few days away and the accused, Senator Leila de Lima, is lagging very far behind in surveys and voter’s preferences?” he said.
“Is it possible that Mr. Ragos is being used as a pawn in last ditch efforts to gain sympathy from voters? As to the motives of Mr. Ragos, we can only surmise. However, I know for a fact that he was asking for payment of back pay during the time that he was not receiving his regular pay but he did not receive any,” he added.
The former justice executive called Ragos a man with a grudge, saying the government ignored him when he was asking to be appointed to some government post.
“Lastly, as a lawyer, allow me to state that it is a time honored rule that RETRACTIONS ARE UNRELIABLE UNLESS BACKED UP BY INCONTROVERTIBLE EVIDENCE. As it is, devoid of any reliable back-up, the statement of Mr. Ragos is a worthless piece of paper,” said Aguirre.
Last week, Ragos publicized his four-page affidavit signed on April 30, 2022 where he said that Aguirre ordered him to fabricate an information along with then intelligence agent Jovencio Ablen Jr. to implicate De Lima in the illegal drugs transactions, particularly in accepting grease money from convicted drug lords inside the New Bilibid Prison (NBP).
Ragos was a co-accused of De Lima and her former security aide/driver Ronnie Dayan in one of the illegal drug trading cases filed before the Muntinlupa RTC.
He was arrested on February 17, 2017, while De Lima was arrested on February 24.
De Lima was acquitted in one of the three drug charges filed against her before the Muntinlupa court.
In order for the cases against him to be dropped, which will lead to his release, Ragos said he was told by Aguirre to make more lies to further pin down De Lima.
He said he had no choice but to follow Aguirre, noting that he also felt under threat after he was informed that the Malacañang is monitoring him. (SunStar Philippines)