SENATOR Leila de Lima's former staff has belied the statement of Department of Justice (DOJ) Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II over an affidavit supposedly confirming de Lima's "anomalous" bank account in 2004.
Edna "Bogs" Obuyes, one of the employees Aguirre claimed to be De Lima's cohort during her DOJ tenure, has denied links to the P24-million bank deposits of the senator allegedly funded by drug lords at the New Bilibid Prison (NBP).
In a post on her Facebook account, Obuyes said she was invited to the office of the secretary, where she was shown a picture of her with De Lima and two BDO bank receipts for the month of March and April 2014 amounting to P24 million.
"Pinatawag ako sa loob ng office ni Aguirre. Akala ko pipirma lang ako ng bagong contract pero laking gulat ko nang inihain sa harap ko ang BDO bank receipts kalakip ng picture namin ni Senator De Lima (I was called to report to Aguirre's office. I thought I have to sign a new contract, but I was shocked when BDO bank receipts and a picture showing me and Senator De Lima were shown to me)," Obuyes said.
Obuyes clarified that the picture was taken when she was still De Lima's staff during the senator's stint as Commission on Human Rights (CHR) chair.
She added that she saw in the receipt her name written as "Bogs Obuyes," which according to her she will never use in formal transactions as it is only her nickname.
"Yung pangalan dun ay Bogs Obuyes na imposible ko naman gamitin dahil nickname ko lang yun (It's impossible for me to use my nickname in bank receipts)," she said.
The employee also said that during the interview with Aguirre, she denied all the accusations against them. According to her, she was shocked to hear reports by Aguirre that she supposedly confirmed their illegal acts.
"Ang laman po ng statement ko ay puro pagtanggi na walang katotohanan ang lahat. Pero bakit ang lumalabas ay against De Lima ang statement ko? (In my statement, I denied everything, but why is it that my statement appeared to be against De Lima?)," she said.
At the end of her post, Obuyes appealed to the public to pray for her and De Lima.
"Pray for me and our senator," she said.
According to some of the DOJ employees, they have not seen Obuyes at DOJ since Wednesday.
In an interview at the Senate on Thursday, Aguirre said the DOJ now has the affidavits of two former employees of De Lima confirming the senator's alleged involvement in corruption at the NBP.
Aguirre said that employees Obuyes and Jonathan Caranto had executed an affidavit against De Lima, claiming they were instructed to deposit millions of pesos to the account of De Lima's driver Ronnie Dayan. (Sunnex)
