Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, November 13) — After six years and nine months of detention, former Senator Leila de Lima was released from the Philippine National Police (PNP) custodial facility after posting bail on Monday.
The court also allowed the four other co-accused in the case to post ₱300,000 bail each. They are former Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) Chief Franklin Bucayu, De Lima’s former bodyguard Ronnie Dayan, Joenel Sanchez and Jad Dera
The grant of bail comes nearly a month after two more witnesses recanted their testimonies against the former lawmaker.
Former police officers Rodolfo Magleo and Nonilo Arile told the former senator that they were recanting their testimonies “for several reasons with the primordial objective – to help you both to be set free together with your fellow co-accused.”
Muntinlupa Regional Trial Court branch 204 earlier acquitted de Lima in her second drug charge in May 2023. Prior to that, in 2021, De Lima was also acquitted in one of the three drug charges filed against her by the Duterte administration.
De Lima was in detention for more than six years over allegations she benefited from the illegal drug trade inside the New Bilibid Prison while she headed the Department of Justice, with the drug money supposedly used to finance her senatorial campaign in 2016.
De Lima has consistently denied the allegations, saying the charges were fabricated by the Duterte administration to silence her.
Earlier in the day, a Muntinlupa court allowed De Lima – a staunch critic of former President Rodrigo Duterte’s deadly war on drugs – to be released after she posted ₱300,000 in bail for her remaining drug case, giving her provisional liberty.
The order was signed by Muntinlupa City Regional Trial Court branch 206 presiding judge Gener M. Gito.
“The custodial officer of the Philippine National Police – Headquarters Support Service, Custodial Service Unit is hereby directed to RELEASE the accused provided there exists no order from any other case to the effect that he remains confined in its custody,” the document reads.
Col. Jean Fajardo, the PNP’s spokesperson, said De Lima would be escorted from the custodial facility to the place where the former lawmaker decides to stay.
Hours earlier, the court granted De Lima’s motion for reconsideration and allowed her to post bail.
Following the release of the decision, De Lima went live on Facebook and was greeted with cheers by supporters as she was escorted by police out of the Muntinlupa City Hall of Justice.
“For more than six long years I have been praying so hard for this day to come. Napakasakit ang makulong nang wala kang kasalanan. Ayaw kong mangyari ito sa iba. I don’t want to be sad or bitter today. This is a moment of triumph and thanksgiving,” she told media and those gathered at the site.
[Translation: For more than six long years I have been praying so hard for this day to come. It hurts to be imprisoned when you are innocent. I do not want this to happen to anyone else. I don’t want to be sad or bitter today. This is a moment of triumph and thanksgiving.]
De Lima also thanked President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s administration for “respecting the independence of the judiciary and rule of law.”
