“Just be fair.”
This was the appeal of Cebuano lawyer Pedro Leslie Salva as law enforcement agencies look into Cebu businessman Peter Lim’s alleged involvement in illegal drugs trade.
He said each citizen must be afforded due process and should be presumed innocent until proven otherwise.
“On my personal sentiment and opinion, I request the investigators to exercise due process,” he told CDN over the phone.
“You can strike me, but please hear me first,” he said.
Salva clarified that he was speaking on his own and not in behalf of Lim whom he served as legal counsel for two decades now.
The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) is conducting a probe to determine whether Cebu’s Lim is the big-time drug lord alluded to in intelligence reports.
Lim personally appeared before the NBI in Manila last July 21 in compliance with the advice of President Rodrigo Duterte to subject himself to an investigation if he wants to clear his name.
The 69-year-old businessman said his family has been in danger because of all these wrongful allegations.
Joel Tovera, head of the Bureau’s Anti-Illegal Drugs Division, is on top of the special task force that focuses on Lim’s case.
Last July 28, Director General Isidro Lapeña of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) said, in an interview over ABS-CBN’s late evening newscast “Bandila,” that Cebu’s Peter Lim is on their drugs watch list.
Lapeña said they could not arrest Lim since there’s no existing arrest warrant issued against the businessman.