Senator Leila de Lima on Monday rejected President Rodrigo Duterte's call for her to resign amid allegations of her drug links

Senator Leila de Lima on Monday rejected President Rodrigo Duterte's call for her to resign amid allegations of her drug links, saying doing so would be a sign of guilt and weakness.

Speaking to reporters at the Senate, De Lima reiterated her earlier statement that resigning from her post had crossed her mind "para tumahimik na lang sila [at] para tigilan na lang nila ako [at] tumahimik na lang ang buhay ko."

"But after much reflection at uulitin ko ulit ngayon: Resignation at this point will be an admission of guilt and a sign of weakness. And I’m neither weak nor guilty," she added.

Earlier in the day, Duterte had urged the neiphyte senator and former Justice secretary not only to resign from her post, but even hang herself.

"If I were De Lima, ladies and gentlemen, I'll hang myself... Dapat kang mag-resign. Sa pinapakita mo, you resign," he said while visiting PO1 Nestor Villanueva at St. Paul Hospital in Tacloban City.

De Lima had earlier said she was willing to resign from her post and be shot in front of the President if allegations of her drug links inside the New Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa were to be proven true.

De Lima had said that despite Duterte's repeated "attacks" against her, she would continue with the ongoing Senate investigation on the spate of drug-related killings under the two-month-old Duterte administration.

Duterte had earlier dragged De Lima into the illegal drug trade in the Philippines, saying her former driver-lover had collected money from drug lords to finance her senatorial campaign last May.

Duterte, who had called De Lima "immoral" for her love affairs, most recently said the senator's new boyfriend is one of her bodyguards.

Last Thursday, two days before her 57th birthday, De Lima said she has no boyfriend at the moment, but wished she had one who would stand by her during her ordeal.

De Lima also appealed to President to stop the "madness" he has been doing, including putting her on top of a supposed "drug matrix" that identifies the supposed big names in the illegal drug industry in the country and how they are connected to each other.

De Lima admitted being fed up by accusations of her drug links, saying: "Sawang-sawa na ko sa kaka-deny. Ganoon lang naman talaga ang gagawin ko because iyon naman ang alam kong totoo. Wala akong kinalaman diyan."