Beyond love partners

“Even President Rodrigo Duterte then commented that Dayan’s statements were ‘hogwash,’ since proof of De Lima’s involvement in the drugs trade is already overwhelming.

The Blue Ribbon probe into the Good Conduct Time Allowance (GCTA) Law had taken an interesting turn with panel chairman Sen. Richard Gordon indicating a familiar route that will eventually lead to suspected drug trafficker Sen. Leila de Lima and her handyman lover Ronnie Dayan.

Dayan has proven to be more than a boy toy but a likely partner of De Lima in running the lucrative business schemes inside the New Bilibid Prison (NBP).

While Gordon admitted he’s speculating, the senator apparently gave an educated guess as he noted the circumstances based on the revelations of Rafael Ragos, a lieutenant of De Lima when she was Justice chief in the National Bureau of Investigation and later on the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor).

During the hearing, Gordon muttered, “The troop of Ronnie Dayan entered the business of GCTA. Is that possible? I’m just saying in the realm of possibility, it can happen. That’s not evidence. I know what I’m doing,” Gordon said at the hearing.

Having previously led the probe on the NBP drugs cartel, the senator has a good idea of the racket inside the supposed maximum security penitentiary in which Dayan and De Lima always figure prominently.

Dayan is more than the ignorant beau of De Lima that he is being made to appear.

De Lima’s love interest made statements during the Congressional hearings indicating he was a partner in running the NBP drugs network and was not merely following orders from De Lima.

For instance, he reluctantly admitted that the postings of Rafael Ragos and Franklin Bucayu as BuCor heads were through his recommendations.

It was under Ragos and Bucayu when the drugs trade inside the NBP proliferated.

Ragos, who also became National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) deputy director under De Lima, wrote an affidavit indicating that he delivered P5 million to the residence of the former Justice secretary twice.

The testimonies of NBP inmates also pointed to the collusion between the lovers in running the lucrative NBP narcotics factory.

Dayan’s skill at camouflaging his character was also evident during the House probe where he tried to make himself appear as a spurned lover who was willing to tell all to get back at De Lima.

The House probers then rightly saw through Dayan’s disguise of being a mere errand boy of De Lima and that he has more guile than what it appears to be.

A member of the panel said the testimonies of Dayan had the effect of shielding both him and De Lima from being pinned as the main characters in the NBP drugs trade.

Even President Rodrigo Duterte then commented that Dayan’s statements were “hogwash,” since proof of De Lima’s involvement in the drugs trade is already overwhelming and that Dayan merely tried to muddle the allegations and to create cracks on the testimonies against De Lima.

The script that Dayan followed also had him supposedly hiding from the House hearing on the order of De Lima out of loyalty, when the senator then was obviously trying to block the conduct of the probe.

It was only when Dayan was arrested by order of the House did he appear at the inquiry.

After Dayan’s arrest, the inquiry was reopened, and during the hearing, Dayan and his daughter confessed that De Lima instructed him not to appear at the House probe. The senator gave the instruction through a text message to Dayan’s daughter.

De Lima snubbed the entire House proceeding, saying that its purpose was mainly to humiliate her and put her in jail.

Then House leaders Oriental Mindoro Rep. and Justice panel chair Reynaldo Umali, House Majority Leader Rodolfo Fariñas, and Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez filed a complaint before the Senate against De Lima’s refusal to attend the hearings that resulted in a disobedience case.

Dayan appeared before the House probe mainly with a purpose, however, of weakening the confessions of drugs kingpin Kerwin Espinosa, which happened at a Senate inquiry.

Inconsistencies were introduced on the handing of money to De Lima prior the 2016 elections.

Espinosa told the Senate that De Lima raised funds for her senatorial campaign, which was consistent with House testimonies mostly of NBP high profile inmates on De Lima’s key role in the NBP drugs trade.

A conflict was introduced when Espinosa last delivered money to De Lima through Dayan apparently to punch a hole through the testimony of the alleged drug lord. Dayan said it was in 2014, while Espinosa insisted it was in 2015.

Dayan also denied Espinosa’s claim before the Senate that he inquired about him through Albuera Police Chief Superintendent Jovie Espenido. Espinosa in his Senate testimony said in the early half of August 2015, Espenido contacted him to say that Dayan wanted to talk to him, which should be solid proof that Dayan is one of the NBP ringleaders.

De Lima and Dayan should be made to appear in the inquiry since they apparently hold the key to the NBP abomination.