Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 5) – Six senators from the United States are urging the Philippine government to immediately release and drop charges against jailed opposition Senator Leila de Lima after two witnesses recanted their testimonies against her.
The US lawmakers, led by Senators Marco Rubio and Ed Markey, made the call in a joint statement dated May 3, saying the retractions show the “bogus charges” against De Lima were “politically motivated and based on false information.”
Senators Dick Durbin, Marsha Blackburn, Chris Coons, and Patrick Leahy also joined the call.
“The recent recanting by key witnesses of allegations made against Senator Leila De Lima warrant her immediate release,” they said. “That she has lost five years in jail due to these spurious charges is a travesty.”
In December 2019, the US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations also passed a resolution condemning De Lima’s continued detention and urged the Duterte administration to immediately free her. The measure was filed by Markey, Rubio, Durbin, Blackburn, and Coons.
De Lima on Wednesday thanked the US senators for consistently vouching for her.
“The recent development on my case, along with the unwavering trust and faith in me of prominent leaders and co-justice warriors, further bolsters my determination to fight against the lies and see this battle to end in freedom and vindication,” she said.
Last week, self-confessed drug dealer Kerwin Espinosa claimed he was forced to pin De Lima in the drug scheme after being threatened by the police. Two days later, former Bureau of Corrections chief Rafael Ragos also retracted his testimonies against the senator, saying he was only coerced by former Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II — an accusation the latter denied.
READ: Aguirre denies, questions timing of ex-BuCor’s claim of coercion in De Lima case
Ragos was a state witness in the government’s case against De Lima. The Prosecutor General earlier clarified Espinosa is not, but he testified against the senator in congressional hearings.
US urged anew to sanction Pinoys behind De Lima imprisonment
Meanwhile, the US government is again being pressed to impose sanctions on those responsible for putting the senator behind bars.
Vice presidential candidate Senator Kiko Pangilinan on Thursday urged Washington to revoke the visas and freeze all US-based properties and financial interests of Filipinos “who directly and indirectly participated in the fabrication of drug charges” against De Lima.
Markey and his colleagues who filed the US Senate resolution in 2019 also earlier sought the same move from their national government.
READ: Asset freeze for De Lima accusers, jailers sought in US Senate
“We also call on the US government to hold to account all Filipinos who seek to destabilize, weaken, and destroy internationally recognized human rights and freedoms, such as the freedoms of religion, expression, association, and assembly, and the rights to a fair trial and democratic elections,” Pangilinan added.
De Lima is running for reelection in the May 9 polls and is part of the Senate slate of Pangilinan and presidential bet Vice President Leni Robredo.
She has been in jail since 2017 for allegedly abetting an illegal drug trade in the national penitentiary during her term as Justice Secretary in the previous administration. The senator, a vocal critic of President Rodrigo Duterte’s anti-drug war, has maintained her innocence and accused the government of fabricating the cases against her.
