Ronnie Dayan, Senator Leila de Lima’s former driver, and bodyguard, on Thursday, said it was no less than the embattled senator who stopped him from testifying at the House probe on illegal drug operations in the New Bilibid Prison.

Dayan, in his four-page sworn affidavit presented during the House probe on Thursday, said De Lima ordered him to skip the hearings despite a summon and go into hiding instead.

Dayan said he first wanted to attend the probe, and asked his daughter, Hannah Mae, to inform De Lima about it.

“I-text mo si Madam, kunin mo yung opinion niya kasi dumating na yung subpoena, napirmahan ng auntie mo. Sabihin mo a-attend ako (Text Madam, ask her opinion about the subpoena received by your aunt. Tell her, I’ll attend),” Dayan recalled telling his daughter last October 1.

It was the same day his sister, Elmita Torreta, received the subpoena served by the police in Urbiztondo, Pangasinan.

De Lima replied to the text message, saying, “Huwag siyang umattend diyan, pagkakaguluhan lang siya diyan,” Dayan said. “Pagtatawanan lang kaming dalawa, magiging kahiya-hiya kami diyan na dalawa.”

[Translation: He should not attend. We will be both ridiculed, we will be embarrassed.]

Another text message supposedly from De Lima read: “Pakisabi sa kanya, magtago na lang muna siya.

[Translation: Tell him to go into hiding.]

De Lima also allegedly said it was all part of House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez’s scheme, as ordered by President Rodrigo Duterte.

Rep. Rodolfo Fariñas asked Hannah Mae to show the messages on her phone to the media. The sender was registered “TL,” which stands for “Tita Lai,” which is how she calls De Lima. Some members of the House also confirmed De Lima’s number.

Ronnie Dayan’s daughter shows De Lima’s text to media. | https://t.co/sDo55hwVGt pic.twitter.com/GIK9m2UNKV

— CNN Philippines (@cnnphilippines) November 24, 2016

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