Leila de Lima, one of the fiercest critics of former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s bloody “war on drugs” and jailed for more than six years on baseless charges, is looking to return to politics in 2025.
Mr. de Lima was one of the few politicians to criticize Mr. Duterte during his tenure, infuriating Mr. Duterte when he launched an investigation into killings committed during a drug crackdown. She knew to expect retaliation, she said. “I thought I would just be slandered, slut-shamed, and verbally attacked on a daily basis,” she said. She never expected to spend more than six and a half years in prison.
Finally free and vindicated in court in the summer, she hopes to return to national politics next year and is the leading candidate for the new party Mama-Yang Liberal, which was formed as an offshoot of the former ruling Liberal Party. He plans to run as a candidate. The party promises to defend the rights of marginalized groups, including fishermen, farmers, women, youth, the poorest urban communities and LGBTQ+ people.
Ms de Lima said she remained committed to ensuring justice for the victims of the drug war. “Already more than seven years have passed and justice for them remains very elusive,” she said of the victims’ families. It is estimated that as many as 30,000 people, mostly men, were killed during the crackdown.
Duterte, who was succeeded by Ferdinand Marcos Jr. as president in 2022, has faced intense scrutiny over his anti-drug campaign. He is the subject of an investigation by the International Criminal Court and the Philippine Congress.
De Lima said the ICC’s investigation into possible crimes against humanity was “already at an advanced stage,” adding that an arrest warrant could be issued soon.
“I knew that in the end the truth would prevail, and that’s what’s happening now,” she said. “Witnesses are no longer afraid to come forward and tell the public what they knew about President Duterte’s drug war and share their testimony.”
He added that President Duterte is not worried about the domestic investigation. “He feels he can still influence them, put pressure on them and even scare them.” He knows he can’t influence the ICC.
Mr. de Lima, 65, was elected to the Senate in 2016, the same year Mr. Duterte won the presidential election by promising a deadly crackdown to rid the streets of drugs. He promised to kill so many criminals that the funeral parlor was full.
When de Lima, then the chair of the Senate Judiciary and Human Rights Committee, launched an investigation into the killing, President Duterte described her as an “immoral woman” who had led a “very despicable life in both her private and public life.” He accused it of being. He accused her of facilitating drug trafficking and accepting payments from drug organizations while she was attorney general.
He also accused her driver of collecting drug proceeds and filming a sex tape of the two. He told a rally of supporters that if he were her, he would hang himself.
De Lima was removed as head of the commission investigating the drug war and arrested in 2017.
“They wanted to make an example of me so other politicians and celebrities would be scared,” De Lima said.
She continued her work for the senator in prison, handwriting notes for officials who set up a mobile office in a car outside the prison. She kept a strict daily routine: prayer and Bible reading, work at the Senate, feeding the prison’s stray cats (she adopted five upon her release), walking around the grounds, reading and journaling. write.
De Lima’s siblings never told their 92-year-old mother that she had been imprisoned, instead saying she was studying abroad. “Every time my mom watches TV, she changes the channel when it’s time for the news,” she said.
Witnesses who testified against her have since recanted their testimony, and some say they were pressured to improperly implicate her. The last of the three charges against her, all drug-related, was dismissed in June after UN experts denounced it as politically motivated.
It is up to Marcos to decide whether Duterte will be prosecuted by the ICC. Marcos ran in 2022 on a joint ticket with Vice President Sara Duterte, the former leader’s daughter, but has always said he would not cooperate with the ICC. However, there is speculation that he may change his mind as the two families are currently embroiled in a bitter political battle.
In recent months, Sara Duterte has launched scathing attacks against Marcos, threatening to exhume her dictator father’s remains and throwing them into the sea, and talking to hitmen and instructing them to kill Marcos and his wife. claims to have done so. He was to be killed.
The violent language typical of her father’s political brand is understood as an attempt to shore up their base ahead of next year’s midterm elections.
Rodrigo Duterte plans to run for mayor of Davao, his family’s stronghold in southern Mindanao.
“They know their influence is diminishing,” De Lima said. “They are struggling to survive politically and in the power struggle (with the Marcos camp).”
Despite declining approval ratings, there is speculation that she will run for president in 2028.
De Lima called Sara Duterte a “dangerous leader” and said Duterte is becoming more and more like her father. She is supporting one of three petitions calling for her impeachment over issues including allegations related to misuse of public funds and intimidation of public officials. Whether this progresses will depend on how much support it receives from the House of Commons.
Mr. Marcos recommended against impeachment. But de Lima expects the ICC to comply if it seeks Rodrigo Duterte’s arrest.
Given the popularity of his rivals, Marcos is now reluctant to do so publicly, she said. But in time, she expects this to change. That is the best way to get rid of Mr. Duterte.”
