MANILA (UCAN): “Praise God for this good news. But, why only now? Why did it take this long for her to be granted bail?” asked Bishop Pablo Virgilio David of Kalookan, president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines [CBCP], upon receiving news of the release on bail of prominent political prisoner and former senator, Leila De Lima, a fierce critic of the ‘war on drugs,’ started by former president, Rodrigo Duterte [Sunday Examiner, November 19].
De Lima was released on bail on November 13 after being detained for over six years on trumped up drug charges.
As a sitting senator, De Lima launched a Senate-led probe into Duterte’s bloody war on drugs, which, according to rights groups, claimed over 12,000 lives.
The delay in her release “made it so obvious that something is wrong with our justice system,” Bishop David said in a statement.
In 2009, De Lima, as the chairperson of the Commission on Human Rights, launched a probe into the suspected Davao Death Squad, started by Duterte, who was mayor of the city for more than two decades, to zero in on criminals and drug peddlers.
Praise God for this good news. But, why only now? Why did it take this long for her to be granted bail?
Bishop David
The probe reportedly unearthed a mass grave of human remains near a quarry and hundreds of deaths allegedly linked to the Death Squad.
In 2016, De Lima, who wrapped up her service as secretary of justice, was elected to the Senate when Duterte won the presidency on a platform of cracking down on illegal drugs.
Duterte continued his war on drugs as president and nearly 6,000 people were killed between 2016 and 2022 when he left office. Many of the extrajudicial killings took place in the poorest areas of the country.
When he became president in 2016, Duterte vowed: “I will have to destroy her [De Lima] in public.”
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In her message to Duterte after her release, De Lima said, “God forgive him and God bless him. He knows what he did to me.”
Because of his drug war, Duterte is facing a probe by the International Criminal Court (ICC) which has issued a subpoena.
I am glad that De Lima has finally been set free. It is obvious that the false charges against her are due to her investigation of extra-judicial killings in the country which started in Davao under Duterte
Father Picardal
“I am glad that De Lima has finally been set free. It is obvious that the false charges against her are due to her investigation of extra-judicial killings in the country which started in Davao under Duterte,” said Father Amado Picardal, former secretary of the CBCP.
“I hope that those responsible for this injustice as well as the mass murder in the country will finally be held accountable, especially by the International Criminal Court,” Father Picardal, who previously worked with the Coalition Against Summary Execution, said.
De Lima’s release will encourage the Church “in her mission to seek justice for the victims of human rights abuses” committed by Duterte, Father Picardal added.
Monsignor Ramon Stephen Aguilos of the Archdiocese of Palo said he is “definitely happy” over the release of De Lima, adding, “I rejoice with her and all who have long been praying and hoping for her eventual release.”
To have spent more than six years in detention for a trumped-up case speaks volumes of the present justice system, Monsignor Aguilos added.
Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., who became president in 2022, has admitted that there were abuses in government during Duterte’s violent anti-drug campaign. However, an CNN Philippines reported, he has said the country will no longer engage with the ICC after it denied the government’s appeal to stop the drug war investigation.
CNN Philippines also quoted De Lima as saying, “So it’s really time for this administration to rethink their position in so far as the issue of whether this government will cooperate with the ICC investigators.”
