Trillanes: De Lima only good at holding press conferences

**Monseratto** · August 18th, 2011 09:41 PM

Now here is something I agree 101% with this noobie...

Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV on Thursday called for the resignation of Justice Secretary Leila de Lima, whom he accused of not doing her job and is only good at holding press conferences.

“Kung paramihan lang ng presscon yung criteria, talagang siya na ang pinakamagaling na secretary. Pero hindi yun eh," Trillanes told reporters in an ambush interview.

De Lima shrugged off Trillanes’ criticism, saying “If he thinks I’m not doing what is expected of me, then that’s his opinion."

It was not immediately clear what prompted the demand of Trillanes, a former Navy junior officer involved in past coup attempts. But in the media interview, he said De Lima has yet to file cases against high profile personalities.

“I hope that she would resign. We gave her enough time to do her job pero wala talaga siyang ginawa...14 months na siyang nakaupo," he said.

“Itong mga pina-file na kaso hindi ho kanya yan. Ginawa yun ng BIR [Bureau of Internal Revenue], ginawa yan ng Customs, ginawa yan ng mga private groups. Wala siyang ginawa na kanya," he added.

Trillanes said De Lima can prove him wrong by filing a case on her own. “I am daring her to prove me wrong na may ginagawa siya," he said.

He said De Lima would have made a good presidential spokesperson instead

“To her credit, magaling siya magsalita," Trillanes said. “I believe Malacañang… if they really want to make use of the services of Sec. Leila de Lima, i-assign na lang nila siya na presidential spokesperson."

De Lima reacts

For her part, De Lima said the cases filed with the DOJ are being handled vigorously by the state prosecutors that are conducting preliminary investigation. She said the DOJ cannot just file cases haphazardly.

“In the first place, the core mandate of the DOJ is prosecution and before prosecution, you have to determine probable cause. And before that, you must have the necessary evidence.... So we cannot just be filing cases when there is no evidence. We have to get first the evidence so there’s a due determination of probable cause," she said.

De Lima said she is in a “damned if you do, damned if you don’t" situation because various parties will find her efforts either too aggressive or wanting.

She said that while Trillanes believes she is not doing enough, the camps of former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and former First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo are also saying she is overstepping her mandate in issuing watch list orders against them.

“So where should I position myself?" the Justice chief asked.

Despite the polarity in the criticisms, De Lima said that she will continue making the most out of her department’s duty to investigate and prosecute offenders.

She added that she has ordered prosecutors to assist in the case build-up in connection with allegations of misuse of public funds in the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office and in the Philippine National Police's purchase of choppers in 2009. - KBK/YA, GMA News

**niwde11** · August 18th, 2011 09:51 PM

Can they both leave the Govt?

**chua_riwap** · August 18th, 2011 11:13 PM

eh di sampolan ni de lima si trillanes......

**locoroco777** · August 19th, 2011 12:30 AM

^ahaha! yan ang pinaka maganda nyang gawin....

pero in fairness kay de lima well, satisfactory naman ang performance nya kahit papano...pero tawa talaga ako ng tawa nung tinawag nyang panginoon si zaldy ampatuan nung presscon sa palasyo...

**Altis6453** · August 19th, 2011 11:10 AM

Hay, talaga naman itong si Trillanes.

Mas marami ba siyang na achieve nung kinulong siya dahil sa mga coup de état nya? This is one person who should never again get elected into public office.

**vinj** · August 19th, 2011 11:22 AM

Originally Posted by Altis6453

Hay, talaga naman itong si Trillanes.

Mas marami ba siyang na achieve nung kinulong siya dahil sa mga coup de état nya? This is one person who should never again get elected into public office.

He's the one who had a huge travelling expense right? In spite of being in jail. :D

**Stoner** · August 19th, 2011 12:18 PM

Too much back-and-forth travelling of his staff from office to jail?

Can't believe this guy having the gall to run off his mouth after that extremely distasteful episode....

Ah well, Trillanes' winning is most probably is a fluke, a manifestation of the anti-Gloria sentiments. Now that she's out, I doubt he'll win again in the next national elections. Local elections though is another matter.