Former Philippine senator Leila de Lima, who spent six years in detention for criticizing President Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs, was cleared of the last charges authorities had against her on Monday.
De Lima was a sitting senator when he was detained in 2017 on suspicion of accepting bribes from drug traffickers and had been the face of the opposition during a bloody election campaign that left thousands dead.
Her detention served as a stern warning to anyone who dared question Duterte’s war on drugs, which began shortly after he took office in 2016.
De Lima has consistently maintained that the charges were false and a measure to silence her. According to court documents, the prosecution presented 26 witnesses as defendants. In November 2023, she was released on bail after five witnesses recanted their testimony in the case. At that point, she had already been acquitted of two of the three charges.
On Monday, a Muntinlupa City court acquitted her of the last charge. Responding to a motion filed by De Lima alleging that the prosecution did not have enough evidence to convict her, the court ruled that the prosecution had failed to prove her guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
As she left the courtroom after the verdict, she was greeted by cheering supporters, many of them wearing yellow, the leadership colour of the Liberal Party, which she has represented in the Senate since 2016.
“Today I have been exonerated,” de Lima said in an interview, “but full exoneration and true justice will only come when those responsible for my persecution are held accountable for the injustice they have inflicted on me and my honor.”
Carlos Conde, a senior researcher at Human Rights Watch, praised the dropping of the last charges against De Lima and called on the administration of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to cooperate with the International Criminal Court, which has sought to investigate Duterte’s drug war.
“This should be an opportunity for President Marcos to show the world that he is serious about protecting human rights, following the devastating human rights violations by his predecessor and the continuing lack of accountability,” he said.
