Senator Leila de Lima with her political party supporters inside her office before the arrest
Senator Leila de Lima Arrested for Accusation of Orchestrating
a drug-trafficking ring for 5 years
Senator Leila de Lima a staunch critic of President Rodrigo
Duterte's war on drugs has been arrested by law enforcement agents after
charges were filed in court alleging that she received money from drug dealers
inside the Bilibid, the country's largest prisoner’s compound.
Senator Leila de Lima is accused of orchestrating a
drug-trafficking ring when she was justice secretary during the 2010-2015
administration of Benigno Aquino.
"The truth will come out and I will achieve justice. I
am innocent," she told reporters shortly before law enforcers escorted her
away from her office on Friday.
De Lima, her former driver. lover and bodyguard and a former
national prison official were ordered to be arrested by a local court on
Thursday after a judge found merit in criminal charges filed by the Department
of Justice last week.
De Lima has denied the charges, calling herself a victim of
political persecution and saying that she has long prepared herself to be the
first "political prisoner" under the Duterte administration.
Senator Leila de Lima Arrested and heading the Police office with police escort
"While the issuance of the warrant of arrest is
questionable, I do not have any plans to evade it," she said, calling the
order premature as the court has yet to hear the response from her lawyers.
She slept in her Senate office overnight then gave herself
up to armed officers in flak jackets who put her in a van and drove into
morning rush-hour traffic apparently towards police headquarters.
Duterte, 71, won a presidential election last year after
promising during the campaign to eradicate drugs in society by killing tens of
thousands of people.
Since his inauguration on June 30, an anti-drug drive has
seen more than 7,000 people killed over suspected drug links - with about 60
percent of the deaths carried out by unknown assassins.
De Lima has previously called for foreign intervention to
put an end to the "state-inspired" extrajudicial murders, which she
said have been instigated by Duterte since his election to power.
De Lima also led a series of Senate investigations over
allegations that police officers were involved in the killings, and that hired
killers were operating under orders from police.
Aries Arugay, associate professor of political science at
the University of the Philippines-Diliman, told Al Jazeera that the senator
will use her detention to highlight the president's controversial
policies.
"Senator de Lima has been taunting the Duterte
administration to arrest her for months. She boldly says she is its fiercest
critic … What is happening right now is she is really using this as her
platform for her own politics," Aurgay said.
'Shame on you'
Senator Leila de Lima taking her mugshot at the police office
Meanwhile, De Lima's detractors were jubilant over the news
of her arrest.
Blogger and Movie and Television Review and Classification
Board Member Mocha Uson, who is a "diehard" supporter of Duterte,
said once the charges are proven, no one will stand with De Lima.
Meanwhile, political analyst and fervent Duterte supporter
Sass Sasot, criticized De Lima for her rancorous reaction to the arrest
warrant. I miss the time when Gloria was arrested.
"Naka upo lang si madame, enduring everything, dignity in silence. Itong si Leila kulang na lang bumuga ng apoy."
Finally, former Sen. Jinggoy Estrada — who is currently
facing plunder charges filed by then-Justice Secretary De Lima in relation to
alleged misuse of his "pork barrel" fund — slammed De Lima for not
surrendering directly to authorities.
"We surrendered even before the warrant of arrest was
served. We went to Crame immediately. Can't you do the same? Shame on
you," Estrada said in a Facebook post. - With report from CNN and Aljazeera
