EDITORIAL — Almost free

Almost seven years after she was detained for drug charges, former senator Leila de Lima tasted freedom the other day after she was allowed to post bail.

“Finally, I will be set free. For years, my whole being has been crying out for freedom. For more than six long years, I’ve been praying so hard for this day to come,” The Philippine STAR reports her as saying.

The four others accused with her have also been allowed to bail.

There has always been something suspect about the drug charges filed against De Lima when you look at who filed them, who stood as witnesses against her, the timing of the charges, among others.

Many were of the opinion that they were merely brought on as revenge for her looking into the extra-judicial killings in Davao City, then headed by Mayor Rodrigo Duterte who would soon rise to power as president and during whose term she was charged, arrested, and detained.

However, doubts as to the veracity of the accusations began to surface as more and more witnesses began to recant their testimonies against her.

April last year, alleged drug lord Kerwin Espinosa said claims he made that he had drug dealings with De Lima weren’t true.

A year later, it would be the turn of former Bureau of Corrections officer-in-charge Rafael Ragos to say he was threatened by then Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II to implicate De Lima in drug charges, otherwise he would face them with her.

While we cannot jump to conclusions pending the court’s decision on this final case, being allowed to post bail may indicate that the evidence against her is wanting and that her chances of acquittal are good.

However, if she is acquitted of her third and last charge for drugs it will have shown all along that this was a great injustice. That she will have wasted seven years of her life for nothing, except that she paid the price for daring to stand up to the powers that be.

It can also show how vindictive those with much power and influence can be and what they are willing to do to give their enemies hell.