A former senator who spoke out against Duterte’s violence taken hostage in prison
An Islamist held Ms Leila de Lima hostage for a couple of hours during a breakout attempt from a prison inside the headquarters of the Philippine National Police. Unharmed during the incident, the former senator has been in jail since 2017 on drug trafficking charges she says were fabricated. For the chairperson of the ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights group, she should not be in prison “surrounded by criminals and terrorists”.
Manila (AsiaNews) – An inmate held Leila de Lima hostage for a couple of hours yesterday at the prison in Camp Crame, headquarters of the Philippine National Police (PNP).
The former senator, who was also secretary of justice, was arrested in 2017 for drug trafficking and has been held ever since. Her attacker was in prison on terrorism charges and suspected membership in the Islamic State (Dawlah Islamiya) group.
With two other inmates, he tried a breakout, during which a police officer was wounded. After guards killed his two comrades during the escape attempt, the survivor entered de Lima’s cell while she was reciting the rosary.
During the incident, she was blindfolded and her feet tied. Eventually, she was freed unharmed during the police rescue operation while her kidnapper was killed.
"They saw her as an ideal cover. Their intention really was to escape," police chief General Rodolfo Azurin told local radio station DZBB – he added, however, that she was not the target of the attack.
De Lima, 63, is well known at home and abroad for her opposition to the repressive and illegal actions of former President Duterte before he was elected president in May 2016.
Winning herself a Senate seat that same year, she remained a thorn in the president’s side. In February 2017, she was accused of running a drug-trafficking ring and jailed at Camp Crane, along with other opposition figures.
She has been in prison pending the completion of her trial; but from jail, she has continued to attack Duterte's most questionable choices. Like the president, she ended her mandate as an elected official on 30 June.
Although she is trying to recover both physically and emotionally from yesterday morning's ordeal, de Lima was in the courtroom today for the latest hearing in her trial at the Montinlupa court.
Her lawyer confirmed that she was in good health. For his part, current Philippine Ferdinand Marcos Jr called for greater security to prevent the recurrence of yesterday's incident; he also offered de Lima the opportunity to move to another facility.
Although the hostage-taking incident has had a happy ending for de Lima, it does raise questions.
“Make no mistake about it: Former Senator Leila de Lima does not belong in jail, surrounded by criminals and terrorists,” said ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR) chair Charles Santiago.
“We reiterate our stand that the charges against her were clearly fabricated, as it has been shown recently by the recantations of three key witnesses,” he added.
For the APHR chairperson, “De Lima was jailed for just one reason: for daring to initiate a Senate investigation on the criminal war on drugs launched by former president Rodrigo Duterte in what amounts to an act of personal vendetta by Duterte that bears no resemblance whatsoever to justice.”
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