Justice Secretary Leila de Lima on Saturday advised former elections chief Benjamin Abalos to get ready to defend himself before the government fact-finding panel investigating fraud allegations in the 2004 and 2007 elections instead of maligning her and the witnesses who linked him to the irregularities.
鈥淢y unsolicited advice, therefore, to him is instead of his nonstop tirades, and even threatening mode, against me and the witnesses, he should by now be preparing for his defense before the joint DOJ-Comelec (Department of Justice-Commission on Elections) panel,鈥� she said.
In a text message, De Lima assured Abalos that 鈥渉e will be given his day in court, with full recognition of his rights.鈥�
鈥淚 guess turning the tables on one鈥檚 accusers is an all too common reaction of someone who has been implicated, big time, in an anomaly. It鈥檚 not a common occurrence, and in fact, it鈥檚 a startling one, that a former highest official of our electoral body has been directly hit by testimonies as responsible for rigging poll results,鈥� De Lima said.
De Lima was reacting to a threat by Abalos, former chair of Comelec, to file charges against her for 鈥渉arboring fugitives鈥� during an interview with ABS-CBN on Saturday.
Abalos was referring to South Cotabato and North Cotabato provincial election supervisors Lilia Radam and Yogie Martirizar, respectively, who had been charged with election sabotage after they failed to appear before the Comelec en banc sitting as the National Board of Canvassers to explain discrepancies in the election documents from their provinces during the 2007 midterm elections.
De Lima said it was neither criminal nor contemptuous if 鈥渢he purpose of 鈥榟arboring鈥� is to protect or have custody of the persons with warrants of arrest to be utilized by the prosecution branch as witnesses for the state.鈥�