Metro Manila, Philippines — Former Sen. Leila de Lima remains steadfast in her pursuit of accountability for what she calls her “political persecution” under former President Rodrigo Duterte’s administration.
In an interview on Zoom In with Menchu Macapagal, the former senator shared that her legal team is meticulously compiling evidence to file cases against key figures in the Duterte administration.
While De Lima could not disclose specific timelines or the nature of the evidence, she stressed the importance of gathering testimony from Bilibid inmates who falsely testified against her.
Some of these witnesses have already retracted their statements, citing coercion by government agents.
However, De Lima’s legal team faces the challenge of accessing these inmates, many of whom are now in remote penal colonies.
\”My chief persecutor, the one behind it, is the former president himself,\” De Lima said, linking her arrest to Duterte’s alleged grudge over her criticisms of his supposed human rights abuses, including the Davao Death Squad and drug war killings.
De Lima was incarcerated for nearly seven years over drug-related charges which she has consistently denied, calling them fabricated.
In June, the Muntinlupa RTC Branch 206 cleared De Lima of another drug-related charge — the last in a string of cases — by granting her motion for a demurrer to evidence.
Her first drug case was dismissed in 2021 while the second was similarly thrown out in 2023, the same year she was granted bail for the third case.
‘9’: ‘contentWidth’: ‘fit-content’ ’embedCode’: ‘
WATCH: Self-confessed drug lord Kerwin Espiñosa tells the House quad committee that former PNP chief and reelectionist Sen. Bato dela Rosa pressured him to implicate ex-Sen. Leila de Lima in the illegal drug trade in 2016.
Espiñosa: Sabi ni Bato, "Kerwin para magkaintindihan… pic.twitter.com/wvLGg1Y4mN
— NewsWatch Plus PH (@newswatchplusph) October 11, 2024
