MANILA – Former senator Leila de Lima cried foul after her name was mentioned in a Supreme Court case involving a lawyer who was disbarred for grave misconduct.
According to de Lima, she will be requesting documents and pleadings from the High Court to clear her link from disbarred lawyer Demosthenes Tecson.
“I take grave exception to being wrongfully implicated in the SC spokesperson’s press release on a case that has nothing to do with me,” de Lima said in a statement over the weekend.
“It is profoundly unjust for my name to be dragged into the misconduct of a lawyer who has been stripped of his professional standing precisely because of his ethical violations,” she added.
In a February 19 statement, the SC said Tecson claimed to have kept a portion of his attorney’s fees and allegedly donated it for the senatorial campaign of de Lima.
“While I am sure there was no malice intended by the SC Spokesperson in this inclusion, I would be grateful for a public clarification in a supplemental press release on this case that no proof whatsoever was presented as to the truth of Mr. Tecson’s malicious allegation,” de Lima said.
De Lima added that she was exposed to unfounded charges of impropriety.
“Naming another lawyer who is not a party to a disbarment case and who has not been impleaded to defend herself from a baseless allegation in the Spokesperson’s press release is unfair and should be dealt with grave concern by the Honorable Court,” de Lima said.
De Lima, who was previously detained for her alleged links to illegal drug trade inside the New Bilibid Prison, also said that she would take all legal steps to protect her rights./PN
