Detained Senator Leila De Lima is gunning for another term in the Senate.
De Lima filed her certificate of candidacy through an authorized representative at the Harbor Garden Tent in Sofitel Manila, Pasay City on Friday, Oct. 8.
In a statement, the lawmaker vowed to continue the fight for social justice, human rights, criminal justice reform, good governance and rule of law, and national sovereignty.
“Taumbayan na ang humusga kung tatanggapin ang pag-alay ko muli sa aking sarili para sa serbisyo sa gitna ng aking mga sakripisyo o patuloy na pagsasakripisyo bunga ng kasinungalingan ni Duterte (It is up to the people to decide whether to accept my re-offering of myself for service in the midst of my sacrifices or continued sacrifice as a result of Duterte's lies),” De Lima said in a statement.
A vocal critic of the Duterte Administration, the lawmaker was arrested in 2017 for drug-related charges.
Despite her detention, she continued to lambast Duterte’s policies through written dispatches from her cell at Camp Crame in Quezon City.
Before becoming a politician, de Lima served as Secretary of Justice from 2010 to 2015, and chairperson of Commission on Human Rights from 2008 to 2010.
Human right organizations across the globe has also called for the release of the senator from detention.