Speaking to reporters here last Monday, De Lima said the problems besetting the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA), especially congestion, should speed up the full and immediate development of the CIA.
“Ako nga I experienced several times na paikotikot lang sa taas (just going around in circles in the air) because of air traffic. Let’s not wait for an accident to happen because of air traffic. Paano kung dumami nang dumami yung mga naka-suspend sa taas (What if there is a sudden increase of airplanes going in circles above) waiting for their turn to land or while waiting for their clearance?” observed De Lima.
“More than that, the development of Clark will benefit the people of Central and Northern Luzon. In terms of the economy there would be ripple effect and the airport will be closer to them,” she added.
“We really need alternative airports or supplemental airports. We are a growing economy, hindi pweding isa lang ang airport natin, hindi pweding NAIA lang (it cannot be that we have only one airport, it cannot be that we will only have NAIA),” De Lima said.
“There are a lot of growing economies not just Metro Mania or NCR but we need the infrastructure to grow with the economy and the airport is among the important ones,” she reasoned.
On CDC’s Tugade
“I don’t know him. I cannot pass judgment on him,” De Lima admitted when asked to comment on Clark Development Corp. (CDC) President-CEO Arthur Tugade openly campaigning for Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte for president as against the Liberal Party (LP) standard bearer Mar Roxas. “But it’s a matter of delicadeza also,” she said.
Legislative agenda
De Lima said she has “basically three areas” in her legislative agenda “given my experience as former secretary of justice.”
These are: justice and rule of law, anti-corruption, and human rights.
On the first agenda she said she would be pushing for simplified criminal laws to punish the guilty faster and free the innocents faster. “That is why we are pushing for a new code of crimes,” she said.
“It’s there already as drafted by the Criminal Code Committee which I created two to three years ago. It’s headed by the Department of Justice (DOJ) so there is now a draft Code of Crimes new Book 1 and Book 2 to replace and overhaul the 83 year-old Revised Penal Code,” De Lima said.
There is also the Criminal Investigation Bill which is a simplified criminal investigation to make sure once criminal cases reached the courts, they would have a higher chance of success. “It’s time to see a closer collaboration between prosecutors and investigators as early as evidence gathering and case build up,” she said.
On anti-corruption, De Lima said “even if we made a lot of gains in the PNoy administration like the performance of the Office of the Ombudsman, not only in the PDAF cases but other cases, we still lack something in terms of legal mechanism especially in going after ill-gotten wealth.”
She added: “we still need a new offensive in the new legal mechanism so that the culprits will have a hard time hiding their ill-gotten wealth.” On human rights, De Lima there should be focus on the vulnerable sectors which are basically social justice issues.
On GMA’s house arrest
De Lima admitted outright that she does not support a house arrest for former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. “It’s up to the Sandigangbayan and also the Supreme Court (SC). The issue is now with the SC,” she said. De Lima explained that the ruling in the Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile case in granting him bail for “humanitarian consideration” is not in the Constitution as well as the so-called house arrest. “That’s not in the law, we really questioned that,” she said.
“Precisely this is the one thing invoked by former President GMA so what will the Supreme Court do? It’s up to them but if we go by what the Constitution and the rule of law the only basis in the grant of bail and house arrest, which is only part of a judicial discretion but only in very extraordinary cases, is if the evidence of guilt is not strong,” De Lima explained.
“That’s the only standard in the grant of bail,” she added. De Lima made it clear that “I am not in favor of a house arrest (for GMA) just to be consistent with my position.”
On the Ampatuan Massacre
“I remain confident and hopeful that by the time the PNoy administration exits, we can see a conviction of the main and principal accused,” she said.
