MANILA – Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez on Saturday dared Senator Leila de Lima to answer charges linking her to the illegal drugs trade by appearing before a planned inquiry at the House of Representatives.

De Lima, whom President Rodrigo Duterte accused of tolerating drug syndicates inside the national penitentiary when she was justice secretary said she would not testify in Congress, invoking inter-parliamentary courtesy.

Duterte said De Lima's former driver collected money from detained drug lords. He also said the driver was the senator's lover.

"Kung merong video na lumabas diyan, sino'ng magpapatunay na hindi totoo yun? [If a video surfaces, who will say if it's false?]" Alvarez said of De Lima.

Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre and National Bureau of Investigation chief Reynaldo Esmeralda are expected to testify at the hearing.