Biz groups call for De Lima’s release

MANILA, Philippines — Business groups are calling for the release of former senator Leila de Lima, who marked the sixth year of her detention yesterday with the belief that she would soon be vindicated of the charges heaped against her by the previous administration.

In a statement yesterday, the Makati Business Club, Filipina CEO Circle, Justice Reform Initiative, Philippine Women’s Economic Network and Women’s Business Council Philippines appealed to the Marcos administration to take steps for the release of De Lima based on her constitutional right to a speedy trial.

“We believe the justifications for her detention by the previous administration have long disappeared, as witnesses recanted their testimonies,” the groups said.

De Lima, a fierce critic of former president Rodrigo Duterte, said her persecutors failed to silence her. Two drug cases remain pending after a Muntinlupa court dismissed one in 2021.

“I strongly believe that my vindication is at hand. But even if they continue to try to silence me, I refuse to cower,” she said in a statement.

One of the government witnesses presented against De Lima, former Bureau of Corrections officer-in-charge Rafael Ragos, has recanted his allegations linking her to the illegal drug trade. Ragos claimed he was coerced by former justice secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II into signing sworn statements accusing De Lima of dipping her hands in illegal drugs.

With this development, De Lima’s lawyers on Thursday filed before the Muntinlupa Regional Trial Court Branch 204 a 33-page supplemental omnibus motion for the outright dismissal of the cases, her immediate release as well of her co-accused former driver Ronnie Dayan, or grant them bail.

De Lima said she stood her ground and proved her commitment to the rule of law, to human rights and speaking up for the victims – mostly from poor families – when her oppressors thought that she would buckle under pressure.

“I am still fighting for my own innocence and for justice for the victims of extrajudicial killings and the families they left behind,” she said, noting that despite the hardships, she did the right thing when she chose to sacrifice her freedom and political career.

Last Thursday, five lawmakers from the European Union Parliament sub-committee on human rights visited her in jail. She described the visit as something that “has once again buoyed my spirit, as it is yet again an affirmance of the universal acceptance of my causes.”

De Lima said she was always gratified and honored for the continued solidarity and support of global institutions and foreign parliaments. – Emmanuel Tupas, Elizabeth Marcelo, Paolo Romero