Philippines' Former senator Leila de Lima said on Wednesday, June 7, via her lawyer, that a Muntinlupa judge had denied her request for bail in connection with her ongoing drug prosecution.
Attorney Boni Tacardon expressed his regret at having to report the court's decision to reject De Lima's bail application.
Application for Temporary Release Had Been Turned Down
According to CNN Philippines, Tacardon announced that De Lima's request for temporary release had been denied by the Muntinlupa Court Branch 256. This means that she would continue in jail despite having been found not guilty in two previous instances.
The petition was to a drugs case in which De Lima was implicated in illicit drug activities while incarcerated at the New Bilibid Prison. Rafael Ragos, a former official in charge of the Bureau of Corrections, has changed his testimony about De Lima's alleged participation in the prison drug trade.
Last month, De Lima's second drug lawsuit brought by the government of former President Rodrigo Duterte was dismissed. The former senator is still facing charges in the third and last drug case, according to Philstar.com.
The decision of the court on her petition, according to Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla, must be respected. He further reaffirmed that De Lima's petition for a writ of habeas corpus regarding her six-year incarceration would not have been opposed by the Department of Justice.
The writ of habeas corpus is a fundamental right for those who have been detained without due process.
Does Rejecting Bail Plea Perpetuate Injustice?
De Lima, 63, has been in jail since February 2017 on claims that she profited from the illicit drug trade within the New Bilibid Prison while serving as justice secretary. Allegedly, she used the money to fund her senatorial campaign in 2016.
She maintains her innocence and blames Duterte for the "massive demolition job" carried out against her.
Human Rights Watch's Carlos Conde noted in a statement that the rejection of De Lima's bail plea just serves to prolong the injustice that has been ongoing for over six years. "She has remained steadfast in her commitment to see that due process is done, and this is what she gets in return," Conde said, as reported by CNN.
The Gabriela Women's Party-list has also spoken out against the verdict, calling for the dismissal of the "trumped-up" allegations against De Lima.
Gabriela Representative Arlene Brosas issued a statement in which she said that the government could not deny that the allegations against her were politically motivated and that her investigations into the extrajudicial deaths were the reason why she was charged with trumped-up crimes.
"We strongly condemn the continued persecution of critics and opposition leaders who dare to stand up against the government's anti-poor policies," Brosas added.
