Philippines: Ex-senator and Duterte critic, Leila De Lima, was granted bail on November 13, 2023, after her 6-year detention. 

“I have to rebuild my life. My life that they have tried to destroy,” De Lima said after Judge Hon. Gener M. Gito made the decision to grant her freedom from prison under 300,000 Philippine peso bail.

De Lima was thrown into prison in February 2017 after former President Rodrigo Roa Duterte accused her of using money from convicted drug gangs to fund her senatorial bid.

Even before De Lima’s detainment, she had been facing off with Duterte since his time as the Mayor of Davao City. 

De Lima launched an investigation into Duterte’s Davao Death Squad (DDS) in 2009 while she was the chair of the Commission on Human Rights (CHR). 

The CHR found a “mass grave” in a firing range known as Laud Quarry in Ma-a, Davao City, allegedly linked to the hundreds of killings by the Davao Death Squad. 

De Lima said that the CHR’s investigation did not lead to anything concrete because of the lack of witnesses to testify for the commission’s findings. 

De Lima stated that all of the charges laid against her were “fabricated” by Duterte’s regime. 

She has also stated that her arrest was an act of revenge by Duterte. 

“Leila has been targeted by the government for her criticism of the murderous ‘war on drugs’ and other human violations,” said Butch Olano, section director of Amnesty International Philippines. 

Since her imprisonment, witnesses who testified against her have since died or recanted their testimonies, leading to the acquisition of 2 out of 3 charges laid against her, all from former President Duterte’s accusations.

Although granted bail, De Lima will still face life in prison if proven guilty of the charges against her.

During her life in prison without devices and the internet, she spent her time reading, studying, and taking care of five cats, who became her “companions,” saying that they kept her sanity intact. De Lima developed an unconditional love for her feline companions, leading to Rappler calling her the “Cat Lady of Crame."

“Precious freedom, free at last,” De Lima shouted as she was leaving the National Police Headquarters.

After De Lima’s release, she stated that her number one priority is to spend time with her family and, more importantly, with her 91-year-old mother. “She’s waiting for me. I have to be with her. She’s been waiting for me all these years,” said De Lima.