It may be recalled that during the presidential debate at the University of the Philippines Cebu last Mar 20, Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte accused the government of not being able to stop syndicates from manufacturing and peddling illegal drugs at the New Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa City.
Duterte had told Liberal Party (LP) standard bearer Mar Roxas: “This administration allowed shabu to be cooked inside a national penitentiary. Is that your performance?”
“Former Department of Justice secretary and senatorial candidate Leila de Lima, who is running for senator under LP ticket, slammed Duterte for what he said. De Lima pointed out that she initiated institutional reforms in the state penitentiary when she was DOJ chief,” reports Yuji Vincent Gonzales in Philippine Daily Inquirer.
In a statement, De Lima said, “Rather than peddling lies and hurling baseless attacks, Mayor Duterte will be better appreciated if he can present a better proposal for improving our correctional system and sustaining the reforms.”
She added, “It is not true that the Aquino administration did not do anything in fixing the correctional system.” She went on to cite the “Oplan Galugad” raids, which she started as DOJ chief. (See video.)
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