MANILA, Philippines — Detained opposition Senator Leila de Lima on Tuesday said she hopes the incoming Justice secretary, Cavite 7th District Rep. Jesus Crispin “Boying” Remulla, will go over the charges against her and “do the right thing.”
De Lima made the remark a day after Remulla revealed that he accepted the post as chief of the Department of Justice (DOJ) under the administration of presumptive president Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
READ: Cavite Rep. Boying Remulla set to be justice secretary under Marcos Cabinet
“I certainly hope and pray that he would do the right thing,” she said in a statement.
“I would be grateful to the incoming DOJ Secretary if he will personally go over my cases, and see for himself the grave injustice done to me—how his predecessors have ignored and manipulated the law by their selective prosecution where the convicted Bilibid inmates are practically granted immunity in exchange for falsely testifying against me and the other accused,” De Lima added.
She said a “genuine, honest-to-goodness” review of the drug charges against her will “reveal the truth of my innocence.”
READ: Kerwin Espinosa recants drug trade accusations vs Sen. Leila de Lima
Remulla earlier tagged as a “red flag” and a “cause for concern” the retraction of three witnesses against the detained De Lima.
Three witnesses — namely self-confessed drug lord Kerwin Espinosa, former Bureau of Corrections officer-in-charge Rafael Ragos, and her former aide and co-accused Ronnie Dayan — have recently recanted their testimonies where they linked the then-Justice secretary to drug activities inside the New Bilibid Prison, saying they were “coerced” to make those allegations.
READ: Another witness retracts accusations vs De Lima, says he was ‘coerced’
Remulla said he would be willing to review the drug cases against De Lima once he assumes the top DOJ post.
De Lima has been in jail since 2017 on drug charges, all of which she had denied.
In 2021, the court dismissed one of three drug charges against De Lima, but the senator remains detained at the Philippine National Police Custodial Center inside Camp Crame.
De Lima failed in her reelection bid in the 2022 elections. With this, she said she will now “focus on the dismissal of the fabricated drug cases” against her.
READ: After failed Senate bid, De Lima to focus on dismissal of drug cases