Colangco describes a conversation he had with then Sec. Leila de Lima whom he bowed to in thanks during the congressional probe on the illegal drug trade at the New Bilibid Prison Sept. 20, 2016. L. Rillon/Inquirer
Robbery convict and drug lord Herbert Colangco on Tuesday said he helped drug lord Jaybee Sebastian to sell drugs at the New Bilibid Prison and raise money for Senator Leila De Lima.
During a House of Representatives justice committee inquiry over the proliferation of drugs at the national penitentiary, Colangco said he also sold 300 boxes of beer at the maximum security compound where De Lima allegedly has a P1-million share.
Colangco said in Jan. 2014, he met De Lima鈥檚 security aide Joenel Sanchez who asked Colangco if he had agreed to tie up with Sebastian to sell drugs for De Lima.
Colangco said he does not trust Sebastian because he was duped the latter before into signing a document to share their territory at the maximum security compound.
Colangco said Sanchez was De Lima鈥檚 bagman.
鈥淣ung second week ng January si Joenel pumunta sa akin, sabi niya sa akin, 鈥極 bakit hindi ka bumalik? Nag-usap na pala kayo ni Jaybee.鈥� Sabi ko, 鈥楽ir Joenel, wala akong tiwala dun. Baka i-bumper lang ako, baka siya pa ang mabango kay De Lima,鈥欌�� Colangco said.
(On the second week of January, Joenel approached me. He asked me, 鈥榃hy didn鈥檛 you return? I heard Jaybee and you have already talked. I said, 鈥楽ir Joenel, I don鈥檛 trust him. He might fool me and end up with a good image in the eyes of De Lima.)
Colangco said in that meeting with Sanchez, he asked the security aide if he could talk to De Lima over the cellular phone.
Colangco said he saw Sanchez dial De Lima鈥檚 official line as justice secretary.
Colangco said he told De Lima over the phone that he had secured the P3 million for her.
鈥淪abi ko po 鈥楳a鈥檃m, Herbert po.鈥� Sabi niya sa akin, 鈥極 kamusta?鈥� Syempre baka iniisip ko kunwari si secretary ito. Pero yung boses niya po ay talagang siya po. 鈥楳a鈥檃m, confirm ko lang po, nandito po si Sir Joenel, may instruction sa akin. Sabi niya, 鈥榦kay bahala na kayo diyan,鈥欌�� Colangco said.
(I said, 鈥楳a鈥檃m, this is Herbert.鈥� She said, 鈥楬ow are you?鈥� I was thinking this might not be secretary. But I recognized in her voice that it was really De Lima. Ma鈥檃m, I would just like to confirm, Sir Joenel is here with an instruction to me. She said, 鈥極kay, I would leave it to you.鈥�)
鈥溾�楥onfirm ko rin po yung October.鈥� October nag-umpisa kuhanan nila yung P3 million. 鈥楢h okay okay, Herbert, thank you.鈥� Yun lang po ang usapan namin. Maikli lang,鈥� Colangco said.
(鈥業 would also like confirm [the deal] in October.鈥� They started collecting the P3 million in October. 鈥楢h okay okay, Herbert, thank you.鈥� That was we talked about. It was a short conversation.)
Cebu Rep. Deputy Speaker Gwen Garcia told the hearing that she typed the number Colangco mentioned in her phone and found out that the same number registered as De Lima鈥檚. RAM/rga
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