LAWYER Pedro Lesley Salva yesterday declared that contrary to online posts and reports, his client, Cebuano businessman Peter Lim, never left the country since his meeting with President Rodrigo Duterte last July 15.
“What I can say is he never travelled abroad (since he met with President Duterte),” Salva said when asked if Lim had left for Hong Kong and just came back.
Asked to confirm reports that Lim was out of the country, his lawyer emphatically declared, “What I can say is Peter Lim is in Cebu. I had dinner with him last Sept. 12.”
Salva, however, denied knowledge about reports that Lim was recently seen dining with a supporter of President Duterte at Anzani restaurant in Nivel Hills in Cebu City.
“I do not know about that. Perhaps that is just a rumor aimed at putting my client in a controversy,” he said.
Salva refused to comment on Lim’s relationship with Cebuano businessman Fernando “Ding” Borja, the owner of Adnama Building and a supporter of President Duterte.
President Duterte had identified a certain Peter Lim as among the big-time drug lords in the country.
Last July 15, the Cebuano businessman personally met with the President in Davao City to clear his name.
Lim denied being the Chinese-Filipino drug dealer alluded to in police intelligence reports.
He appeared before the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) in Manila last July 21 as advised by President Duterte.
The NBI formed a special task force that would focus on Lim’s case.
Joel Tovera, head of the Bureau’s Anti-Illegal Drugs Division, is on top of the investigation.