Leila De Lima to file wrongful prosecution case against those who 'coerced' witnesses in drug charges
ML party-list Rep. Leila De Lima is set to take legal action against those responsible for her imprisonment on drug charges.
In an interview with Storycon on One News, De Lima said that she will file a case for wrongful prosecution against "those who have actually coerced, threatened, influenced, [and] pressured certain witnesses."
"Those who were used as handlers of some of these witnesses who eventually recanted or signified their intention to recant," she added.
In June 2024, De Lima was acquitted of all the drug charges against her. She was cleared again on June 27 after the Court of Appeals revoked her acquittal in one of her drug cases in May.
De Lima shared that she held off filing the case during the elections, as she "didn't feel comfortable" taking action at the time.
"Magiging issue 'yan, gagamiting issue sa pag-campaign ko. I just wanted to really concentrate on the merits of our party list, as representing various sectors," she said.
"Supposedly settled na dapat 'yan. I don't expect any other moves or any other action that may again jeopardize my status of complete freedom and acquittal. Pina-go ko na uli. So in a few weeks, we will be filing the first of those cases," she added.
While she has been instructed not to reveal important details yet about the case, De Lima confirmed that she will go after a "former justice secretary." At the time of her arrest, Vitaliano Aguirre II served as Secretary of Justice under the Duterte administration from 2016 until his resignation in 2018.
Rafael Ragos, a former Bureau of Corrections chief and a key witness in the case, previously accused Aguirre of coercing him to testify against De Lima. However, Aguirre denied the allegations.
De Lima is known as a fierce critic of former president Rodrigo Duterte's bloody war on drugs. Duterte accused her of running a drug trafficking ring with criminals when she was justice secretary, forcing her from the Senate into a jail cell.
She served five years of her six-year term as senator in police detention despite key witnesses retracting their allegations since then.
Throughout the legal proceedings, De Lima has insisted that the charges against her had been trumped up in retaliation for going after Duterte and his drug war.
