- Senator admitted getting names for appointment from former driver
- She said it was a normal thing in gov’t, stressed that she always has the final word on the matter
- She also denied getting bribes, said Dayan may have hid payoffs from her
MANILA, Philippines—Sen. Leila de Lima corroborated her former driver Ronnie Dayan’s claim of giving her the names of ex-Bureau of Corrections chief Franklin Bucayu and NBI Deputy Director Rafael Ragos as a recommendation.
“Yes parang inano niya ‘yan si [It’s like he recommended] Ragos and Bucayu but it’s not because it’s his recommendation. It’s just that I thought Ragos, akala ko mapagkakatiwalaan ‘yan pero tingnan mo ginawa n’ya [I thought he could be trusted but look at what he did],” GMA News quoted her as saying.
However, De Lima stressed that hearing recommendations was a norm in government and that she always still had the final say in any appointments.
“Ganito ‘yun, just like anybody, my friends, relatives, and fellow workers in government, natural naman ‘yung nagre-recommend. [It’s like this, just like anybody, my friends, relatives, and fellow workers in government, it’s natural for them to recommend]. The final decision rests in me,” she said.
The embattled senator also denied getting any payoffs from Ragos or Bucayu and said Dayan may have hid such activities from her.
“Kung totoo na tumanggap siya ng mga ganung amounts sa dalawa, tinago niya ‘yun sa akin [If it is indeed true that he received such amounts from the two, he hid it from me] because he knows I would not go for it,” she said.
Dayan earlier claimed he got P15,000-P30,000 monthly from Ragos and Bucayu in exchange for getting plum positions within the Department of Justice.
