The justice department of Justice on Wednesday filed a criminal case against Senator Leila de Lima before a Quezon City metropolitan trial court for ignoring summons of Congress.

The justice department approved the indictment of De Lima after it found probable to hold De Lima of violating Article 150 of the Revised Penal Code, which penalizes “disobedience to summons”.

De Lima did not comply with summons issued by the House of Representatives to appear before a congressional inquiry into the spread of illegal drugs inside New Bilibid Prisons.

The indictment of De Lima a year after she resigned as justice secretary to run in the senatorial poll last May.

The case was filed after investigating prosecutors found probable cause in the complaint filed by House leaders led by Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez last Dec. 13 or after only eight days.

Government prosecutors also cited the advice De Lima gave to Dayan to continue hiding and not attend the House probe, which the senator admitted.

In a statement, De Lima said she will “answer the charge that this Administration has desperately hurled against me in order to save the House leadership from embarrassment for failing to link me to the drug trade in the New Bilibid Prison, and for shaming itself by engaging in rumor-mongering, slut-shaming and voyeurism.”

The offense charged against De Lima has a penalty of imprisonment from one month to six months or a fine ranging from P200 to P1,000.

The senator is facing another case in the justice department for drug trafficking, graft, and qualified bribery. DMS