Former Senator Leila De Lima leaves Muntinlupa Regional Trial Court in Muntinlupa city on September 11, 2023, after attending a hearing on the illegal drug case. (INQUIRER file photo / GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE
MANILA, Philippines — Some lawmakers see the grant of temporary freedom on former Justice Secretary Leila de Lima as an indictment of the false accusations against her.
This is the statement of Albay First District Representative Edcel Lagman on Monday.
“Although justice delayed is justice denied, justice finally secured is still justice redeemed,” Lagman said.
“This is the essence of Senator Leila de Lima’s belated grant of bail, which is a prelude to her exoneration in all of the three feigned drug charges against her,” he predicted.
“The decision to grant bail by Judge Gener Gito of the Muntinlupa RTC Branch 206 is a step toward justice and freedom for Leila and a harsh indictment of those who falsely accused her of wrongdoing and caused her years of unimaginable suffering in solitary confinement and the indescribable anguish of the malevolently accused,” the lawmaker said.
De Lima was jailed in February 2017 when she was still a senator of the 18th Congress.
The drug-related complaints stemmed back to the time she was still Justice Secretary.
So far, she has been acquitted in two of the three cases.
Meanwhile, ACT Teachers party-list Representative France Castro expressed hope people behind de Lima’s unjust detention will be jailed in the future.
“The granting of bail to former Senator Leila de Lima was long overdue, but a welcome news nonetheless,” she said.
Accusers had claimed de Lima benefitted from the drug trade in New Bilibid Prison, with money supposedly being sent to her.
According to the charges, de Lima was involved in a drug conspiracy.
She reportedly received a total of P10 million from former Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) Officer-in-Charge Rafael Ragos for her 2016 senatorial bid.
The money purportedly came from high-profile NBP inmates.
However, in 2022, Ragos retracted his testimony, saying he was only coerced by former Justice secretary Vitaliano Aguirre to pin the allegations on de Lima.