Former senator Leila de Lima marked her sixth year in what she described as the “most unjust detention” on Friday, Feb. 24.
“Six years of unjust detention. Six years that my persecutors hoped would be spent in futility, submission, and silence. Instead, it has been six years of fighting the good fight... perhaps the most important six years of my life,” she said in a written statement from her detention facility at the Philippine National Police (PNP) Custodial Center in Camp Crame.
She added, “When they thought I would buckle under the pressure of their oppression, I proved that my commitment to the Rule of Law, to Human Rights and, specifically, to speaking up for the victims, mostly poor and defenseless, of the so-called ‘War on Drugs’, is stronger than any wall they can put between me and the outside world.”
After serving as justice secretary from 2010 to 2015, she ran and won in the May 2016 senatorial election.
A top critic of then President Rodrigo Duterte, De Lima was later accused of being involved in the illegal drug trade at the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) in Muntinlupa.
On Feb. 17, 2017, the Department of Justice (DOJ) filed three cases of illegal drug trading against her and others in Muntinlupa, charging that she allegedly used her position to solicit money from prisoners for her election campaign.
The filing of the drug charges was based on a joint resolution by a DOJ panel dated Feb. 14, 2017.
Then Judge Juanita Guerrero of the Muntinlupa Regional Trial Court Branch 204 issued a warrant of arrest on Feb. 23, 2017 against De Lima, former Bureau of Corrections officer-in-charge Rafael Ragos, and Ronnie Dayan in case 17-165.
On Feb. 24, 2017, De Lima surrendered to the police and has since been detained at Camp Crame.
The DOJ later amended the charges to conspiracy to commit illegal drug trading.
“Six years I stood my ground. And today, after six years, I am still fighting for my own innocence and for justice for the victims of extrajudicial killings and the families they left behind,” she said.
According to De Lima, “Today, more than ever, I am convinced that I did the right thing of sacrificing my personal liberty and even my political career. I strongly believe that my vindication is at hand. But even if they continue to try to silence me, I refuse to cower.”
“I will stand my ground. For when they come after me and try to silence me, they are actually coming after those who cannot speak for themselves and defend themselves. I cannot, in good conscience, let that happen,” she said.
De Lima said, “In the sublime words of Martin Luther King, “If you can’t fly, then run. If you can’t run, then walk. If you can’t walk, then crawl. But whatever you do, you have to keep moving forward. That is exactly what I intend to do. I will soldier on.”
In the past year, Ragos, the key witness against De Lima in case 17-165, had recanted his statements against her and Dayan through an affidavit he issued in April 2022 and court testimonies.
In 17-165, De Lima is accused of getting P10 million that supposedly came from the proceeds of illegal drug trading at NBP.
Ragos, who originally said he delivered the money to De Lima’s house in Paranaque in November and December 2012, took back all his statements and said he was coerced to lie against her.
He testified in a Muntinlupa court to affirm his recantation. With his recantation, the De Lima camp has filed a supplemental motion for bail for her provisional liberty.
If the court accepts Ragos’ recantation, De Lima will ask the court to dismiss the case.
Different sectors have called on the government to release De Lima including the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU).