STATEMENT OF SEN. LEILA M. DE LIMA
ON OMBUDSMAN MORALES' STATEMENT ON JURISDICTION

I welcome the statement of Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales that her office has jurisdiction over the obviously sham drug trade charges the Duterte administration has brought up against me.

Her statement only validates our outstanding argument before the Supreme Court that the criminal charges filed at the lower courts should be dismissed for lack of jurisdiction as the alleged crimes I was wrongly accused of were purportedly committed in relation to my office as then Secretary of Justice.

Clearly, these trumped-up charges are nothing but sinister ploys of political persecution to silence me from speaking against the Duterte administration's murderous war on drugs. And with the pronouncement of the Ombudsman that her office has jurisdiction over these charges, there is still an opportunity to determine, once and for all, the legitimacy of the proceedings undertaken by the DOJ against me. This can be considered by the Supreme Court in the resolution of my petition once they decide, hopefully, that Judge Guerrero has no jurisdiction over the drug charges filed with the RTC of Muntinlupa.