Former senator Leila de Lima after her acquittal in May this year of the second of three drug charges filed against her by the Duterte government. Photo from Leila de Lima’s Facebook page
DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 14 November) – Dabawenyos lauded the decision of the Regional Trial Court (RTC) of Muntinlupa to grant the petition for bail of former Senator Leila de Lima after nearly seven years of detention and expressed hope that those responsible for her incarceration be held accountable.
Dr. Jean Lindo, chair of Gabriela Southern Mindanao, said the court ruling is not only for de Lima, a fierce critic of Duterte and his administration’s war on drugs, but also for all women who stand for justice.
She said the Philippines has a very long history of jailing women for various trumped-up charges and “authoritarian rule suppresses women when they demand accountability.”
For social science practitioner Melot Balisalisa, the grant of bail is a “long overdue decision.” She said the court “should give her full vindication as no crime was committed” and the former President “should be held responsible for the fabricated cases.”
Memen Lauzon-Gatmaytan, Women’s Peace and Security advocate and Mindanao Coordinator of WEAct1325, finds De Lima’s unwavering faith to stand for truth and justice as “remarkable.”
“She was unjustly accused and detained for more than six years but she stood her ground and believed in the rule of law. Those who committed this injustice to her by peddling lies and vilification must be held accountable,” she said.
“Everyday we teach our children and their children about justice and freedom. The grant of bail for Sen. de Lima speaks of justice and freedom being served to those who uphold these and who relentlessly and courageously fight, in ways, big and small, to uphold the democratic principles we hold dear in our hearts, as Senator Leila did,” said Patricia Sarenas, chair of the Mindanao Coalition of Development NGO Networks (Mincode).
Sarenas, also co-chair of the PH-Open Governance Partnership (OGP) emphasized the need to “continue to fight for the dismissal of the last trumped-up case against her.”
Like Sarenas and Balisalisa, Lindo said they will “settle for nothing less than full exoneration” of De Lima.
She, however, noted that the justice system is “snail-paced and this itself is injustice.”
“I pray that other women who are accused of trumped- up charges are released soonest,” she added.
Freedom from Duterte’s ‘personal vendetta’
Khyle Caballero, law student at the University of Southeastern Philippines in Davao City, said De Lima’s posting of bail is a welcome development but “much has to be done to improve the justice system in the country.”
“But I guess it’s the start,” she said.
Caballero sees the release of de Lima as freedom from the “personal vendetta” of former President Duterte, under whose administration de Lima’s physical presence in the Senate was cut short when she was arrested in February 2017 for alleged involvement in illegal drugs.
De Lima, former chair of the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) and Justice Secretary under the Aquino administration, was elected Senator in 2016 for a term that started on June 30, 2016 and would have ended on June 30, 2022.
She sought reelection from behind bars in 2022 but did not make it.
She was jailed for six years and eight months.
“Many are saying that this is victory but, for me, the real justice will only be attained if De Lima will go after those who are responsible for her incarceration,” she said.
She said the injustice done to the former senator is a violation of her rights recognized under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Probing Duterte
Atty. Ruy Elias Lopez, former three-term congressional representative of Davao City’s third district, said de Lima’s being out on bail is a triumph of the administration of justice.
“The wheels of justice grind slowly but ultimately justice was given to de Lima… I am happy that she gets her freedom. Almost the entire time, she was in jail for manufactured and frivolous criminal complaints. Imagine that can happen in this country. As a lawyer, I am glad that the administration of justice for de Lima has finally prevailed,” he told MindaNews in a telephone interview.
The former ally of Duterte who ran for mayor in 2022 but lost to Duterte’s son Sebastian, said the accusations against de Lima were “manufactured” and “politically motivated” from the very start.
Lopez added that the people behind her persecution must be held responsible so that “people will have trust in the judiciary system.”
The justice system, he stressed, “should not be used for political purposes.” De Lima, he said, was persecuted for being a staunch critic of the Duterte administration as President and as mayor of Davao City for the alleged extrajudicial killings (EJKs) that accompanied his war on drugs.
As chair of the CHR, de Lima ordered a probe into the alleged EJKs in the city in 2009, with Duterte among those called to the inquiry. The mayor denied the killings were state-sanctioned.
“As CHR, you investigate it because that is your responsibility under our law. That’s what de Lima did. In Davao, it was not just a rumor but also a fact,” Lopez said.
De Lima brought her crusade for human rights to the Senate by calling for a probe on the alleged EJKs in President Duterte’s war on drugs. Among those who testified during the Senate inquiry was Edgar Matobato, a self-confessed hitman of the Davao Death Squad (DDS) who claimed Duterte was the leader of the DDS and that the killings involved the police.
Punishment for destroying Duterte
As of 3 p.m. on Tuesday, Duterte has yet to issue a statement on de Lima’s bail.
But Salvador Panelo, spokesperson and Chief Presidential Legal Adviser during the Duterte administration said in his “Problema n’yo, Itawag kay Panelo” program on Sonshine Media Network International News on Tuesday, that he spoke with the former President over the phone before coming to his TV program.
He did not disclose what he and Duterte discussed but said Duterte merely scoffed at this recent development in De Lima’s case.
Panelo said de Lima’s temporary release from detention may not necessarily equate to her acquittal. But if she is acquitted of the criminal charges filed against her, Panelo said she cannot escape from the law of karma.
Her detention for almost seven years, Panelo said, was punishment for destroying Duterte.
“Yung almost seven years na detention niya sa nagawa niyang kasalanan, number 1, yung paninira niya kay President Duterte” (Her nearly seven years of detention for her sins, number one, her destroying President Duterte), he said.
He said de Lima when she was CHR chair, came to Davao to investigate “at ano ano pa ang hinukay doon. May mga kalansay daw, mga kalansay ng aso siguro, ng aso yun. Sabi niya mga pinatay ni Duterte bilang alcalde” (and there were diggings. Allegedly there were skeletons, maybe skeletons of dogs. She said they were killed by Duterte as mayor).
De Lima and the CHR investigators then were led to a site where the victims of summary executions were allegedly buried.
Leila as dilemma and fierce adversary
Bayan Muna Executive Vice President and former party-list representative Carlos Isagani Zarate said “it is a truism that justice can still prevail in the end; it cannot be delayed despite the machinations of the dark forces behind her unjust incarceration.”
“We trust and wish that a free Leila will not only be a dilemma but even become a fierce adversary of those who enabled impunity to run amuck in our country today,” he said.
Romeo Cabarde, law professor and director of Ateneo Public Interest and Legal Advocacy Center, said the grant of bail marked a significant triumph for human rights, underscoring the vital role justice plays in our society, and that “unwavering commitment to truth and justice liberates us all.”
“Heartfelt congratulations on your enduring spirit during the challenging six years of imprisonment, particularly in light of the recent dismissals of two out of three charges in 2021 and 2022. Your steadfastness in the pursuit of truth serves as a beacon of inspiration,” Cabarde said in a letter to de Lima.
“May your journey inspire a renewed dedication to fairness, equality, and justice throughout our society,” he said.
In a statement, the CHR welcomed the grant of bail for its former chair, who “has been in pre-trial detention for more than six years with no conviction.”
“Languishing in jail due to previous considerable delays and numerous limbo in trial is tantamount to the deprivation of guaranteed human right as indicated in the UN Basic Principles for the Treatment of Prisoners,” it said.
It highlighted the court’s concluding remarks that vigilance in eradicating illegal drugs “cannot come at the expense of disregarding the rule of law, evidence, and established jurisprudence on the matter.”
In a press conference broadcast live Monday night, de Lima’s message for Duterte was “God forgive him and God bless him. He knows what he did to me.” (Antonio L. Colina IV and Carolyn O. Arguillas / MindaNews)
