MANILA - (UPDATED) Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre on Monday filed a wiretapping complaint against Senator Risa Hontiveros for exposing his supposed text messages.

Aguirre said he would file a separate ethics complaint against Hontiveros later on Monday over the same leaked messages, where he was purportedly caught discussing possible charges against the lawmaker with former Negros Occidental representative Jacinto Paras.

Hontiveros called Aguirre's move "a desperate attempt to deflect public attention," after he was "red-handed plotting against me."

"Mr. Secretary, it's already game over. Tapos na ang boksing. Bistong-bisto ka na. Buko ka na. Tama na ang pagpapalusot. Tama na ang pagtatago sa mga pekeng kaso. Panahon na para lisanin mo ang posisyon na lubos na dinungisan mo," Hontiveros said in a statement.

She had accused Aguirre and Paras of plotting against her in a privilege speech last September 11.

She presented a photograph of what she said were the secretary's text message to Paras, asking to him to "expedite" the filing of cases against her. The photo, she said, was accidentally caught on camera by a journalist at a Senate hearing on the killing of 17-year-old drug suspect Kian Delos Santos.

Aguirre, in his complaint before the Pasay City prosecutor's office, said Hontiveros violated Republic Act 4200 or the Anti-Wiretapping Act.

The secretary later told the Senate that the photos were taken "intentionally, maliciously and unlawfully."

"It was never an inadvertent act, contrary to the claim of Senator Risa Hontiveros in her privilege speech. I was targeted, I was singled out and it was premeditated," he said at the continuation of the probe on Delos Santos' killing.

"The precise timing of the taking or shooting of the photograph, the accuracy of the detail of the image taken and the strategically chosen vantage point all indicate that the media person being referred to intentionally focused his camera or her camera and used the same with the intention to intercept and capture my private text message."

Aguirre condemned the incident, which he dubbed as a "shameless violation of a citizen's right to the privacy of communication." He also challenged Hontiveros to present the journalist who supposedly took the photo.

Last week, Paras and 2 fellow lawyers also lodged a wiretapping complaint against Hontiveros. They also sought the indictment of the senator for kidnapping and obstruction of justice for taking custody of a witness in the Delos Santos case.

• Wiretapping, kidnapping raps filed vs Hontiveros

The senator and her allies earlier said a wiretapping case in connection with the issue had no basis, as there was no clear intent on the part of the photographer to capture the text messages of Aguirre.

Hontiveros said if anything, the case "confirms the conspiracy hatched by Secretary Aguirre and his VACC to 'expedite' the filing of cases against me. It also confirms that the 'Cong. Jing' whom Secretary Aguirre was texting was former Representative Jacinto Paras."

"Bistong-bisto na, buking na buking na, nagpapalusot pa. Nais pa magtago sa likod ng mga walang batayang kaso," she said.

(Caught red handed and still making excuses. He wants to hide behind baseless allegations.)

With Zhander Cayabyab, ABS-CBN News