Back on track: Leila de Lima eyes party-list seat

MANILA, Philippines — Three months after being completely free of drug charges, former Sen. Leila de Lima rejoins the political race under Mamamayang Liberal Partylist.

The party-list filed their certificate of nomination and acceptance on Saturday, October 5, before the Commission on Elections (Comelec).

De Lima accepted the nomination for being the party’s first nominee on September 20. She will be joined by other Liberal Party aspirants, former congressmen Teddy Baguilat and Erin Tañada.

De Lima said she believes she has a better chance of securing seats in the lower chamber with her co-nominees because it is a "tight race" in the Senate. 

She added that she wants to "fully discharge the mandate" of a lawmaker after her 2017 imprisonment hindered her participation in Senate committee hearings.

"Siniraan nga ako. I wanted to do more when I was elected as senator. Pero ang nangyari eight months pa lang ako na nakaupo, kinasuhan na ako, inaresto na ako, kinulong na ako," De Lima said.

(I was vilified. I wanted to do more when I was elected as senator. But what happened was, just eight months into my term, I was charged, arrested, and imprisoned.)

The former senator was also appointed as the Liberal Party's spokesperson in December 2023.

De Lima’s former political stint

Leila de Lima served as the Commission on Human Rights' chairperson during President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's administration from 2008 to 2010.

Her tenure, which lasted two years, involved notable cases such as the Davao Death Squad, human rights cases against General Jovito Palparan and the 2009 Maguindanao massacre.

She was then appointed as the Justice Secretary in 2010 during the administration of the late President Benigno Aquino III.

De Lima then ran for senator during the 2016 elections under the Koalisyon ng Daang Matuwid of the Liberal Party. She finished 12th, after amassing more than 14 million votes.

Imprisonment 

In the Senate, De Lima was a staunch critic of the drug war of former President Rodrigo Duterte.

Due to her criticisms, she was charged with drug raps by the Duterte administration which resulted in her imprisonment of almost seven years.

De Lima was then granted temporary liberty in November 2023. 

After further deliberations by the Muntinlupa Court, she was acquitted of all three drug charges after the court found no sufficient evidence linking her to the illegal drug trade in Billibid.

RELATED: 'Completely free and vindicated': De Lima cleared of all drug charges