Ronnie Dayan: I had 7-year relationship with De Lima
(UPDATED) Ronnie Dayan, Senator Leila de Lima's alleged bagman and former driver, admitted on Tuesday that he had a seven-year affair with the former justice secretary.
"Totoo po may relasyon kami, seven years," Dayan told reporters in Camp Crame in Quezon City.
(It's true we had a relationship. It lasted for seven years.)
Dayan said he applied and was accepted as a driver-bodyguard of De Lima in 2007 when she was still in her private law firm, and they lived in the same house, he said at a press conference in the House of Representatives hours after he was booked.
Dayan also said he last talked with De Lima in 2014, which was when their relationship apparently ended.
Dayan said he was no longer working for De Lima in 2015 or a year before the 2016 elections.
Asked if he had a message for De Lima, he refused to answer.
"Ayaw niya, ayaw niya daw sagutin yan," Philippine National Police Chief Ronald "Bato" dela Rosa, who presented Dayan to reporters, said.
(He doesn't want to, he doesn't want to answer that question.)
Dayan was presented to the media on Tuesday after authorities arrested him in La Union. He went into hiding months ago after he was accused of receiving drug money from Bilibid inmates meant for
De Lima's 2016 senatorial campaign.
De Lima last week admitted her past romantic affair with Dayan, but maintained that she never accepted drug payoffs.
She said the relationship lasted for a “few years” and that Dayan had long been separated from his wife. She said she broke up with him before she ran for senator.
"We became so close. That's it. I trusted him. Siyempre, naano po ang loob ko," she said.
Last week, De Lima said Dayan getting drug money using her name without her permission is "within the realm of possibilities," but said she would have noticed it if it was true.
Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre said Dayan's capture will "tie up the loose ends and supply the missing links" in the cases filed before his department.
Earlier in the day, De Lima asked authorities to treat Dayan and the other witnesses testifying against her right.
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