TIMELINE: DE LIMA’S FIVE-YEAR STRUGGLE IN PRISON

By Vince Ferreras
March 16, 2021 | CNN Philippines
https://www.cnnphilippines.com/news/2021/3/16/TIMELINE-Leila-De-Lima-arrest-prison-.html

Metro Manila (CNN Philippines) — Senator Leila De Lima, one of the staunchest critics of
President Rodrigo Duterte, has been in jail since 2017 on allegations she used drug money for
her senatorial campaign in 2016, when she was Justice secretary.

But De Lima and human rights groups believe the drug charges against her were fabricated to
silence her for investigating the administration's bloody war on drugs. Malacanang has
repeatedly denied De Lima's allegations, saying the charges against her are being tried by the
country's independent courts.

The detained senator was so far acquitted in one of her three drug cases. The other two are still
pending at the Muntinlupa Regional Trial Court.

Here's a timeline on the series of events that led to De Lima's arrest and five-year detention:

December 15, 2014 – Then Justice Secretary De Lima led a raid at the New Bilibid Prison,
where luxurious quarters of 19 drug lords were discovered. Illegal drugs, weapons, and several
other smuggled items were confiscated by the police.

July 13, 2016 – De Lima filed a senate resolution initiating a probe into alleged extrajudicial
killings that began since Duterte took office and believed to be related to his administration's war
on drugs.

August 17, 2016 – Duterte confirmed De Lima was the person he was referring to in a previous
briefing—when he said a lady senator had a driver/lover who had collected drug money to fund
her campaign.

August 20, 2016 – De Lima said she is willing to resign and to be shot in front of Duterte if the
drug allegations against here are proven true. She added that she received reports from "credible
sources" that during the elections that year, some convicts in the national penitentiary were asked
to testify against her and implicate her in the illegal drug trade.

August 25, 2016 – The government released a matrix showing personalities allegedly involved
in the illegal drug trade inside the NBP. Among the personalities tagged were De Lima and then
Justice Undersecretary Francisco Baraan.

September 15, 2016 – De Lima presented Edgar Matobato, who claims to be a former member
of the 'Davao Death Squad'. Matobato linked Duterte to the killings perpetrated by the vigilante
group—an allegation Malacanang vehemently denied.
September 19, 2016 – De Lima was ousted as chairperson of the Senate Committee on Justice
and Human Rights. She was replaced by Senator Richard Gordon. It was Senator Manny
Pacquiao who made a motion to declare the committee chairmanship and its membership vacant.

September 21, 2016 – High-profile inmates and drug lords paid De Lima millions of pesos to
allow them to bring in illegal drugs and other contraband items inside the NBP, witnesses told a
House hearing.

September 27, 2016 – In an interview with CNN Philippines, De Lima claimed it was Duterte
who was behind the "massive demolition job" against her.

October 6, 2016 – During a House hearing, witnesses claimed that Ronnie Dayan—De Lima's
former driver and bodyguard—used to collect drug money from inside the NBP.

November 22, 2016 – Dayan admitted having an affair with De Lima for seven years and their
relationship ended in 2014.

November 24, 2016 – Dayan said it was De Lima who stopped him from testifying in a House
probe in October. He testified that he told his daughter to text De Lima of his plan to attend the
probe, but the senator allegedly replied that he should skip it.

February 23, 2017 – The Muntinlupa Regional Trial Court issued an arrest warrant against De
Lima for violation of the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.

February 24, 2017 – De Lima was arrested and detained at the Philippine National Police
Headquarters in Camp Crame, Quezon City.

March 16 and July 19, 2017 – De Lima’s case caught international attention as the European
Parliament called for her immediate release. In July, a 12-member delegation from EU visited De
Lima at the PNP Custodial Center in Camp Crame.

October 10, 2017 – The Supreme Court en banc voted 9-6 to dismiss the detained senator's bid
to dismiss the arrest warrant issued against her. The high court junked De Lima's plea for lack of
merit.

January 2018 – Some judges from the various branches of Muntinlupa RTC inhibited
themselves from hearing the case of De Lima for several reasons. Judge Antoinetta Pablo-
Medina of Branch 276 inhibited herself from the case, saying she was a classmate of De Lima.
Judge Myra Bayot-Quiambao of Branch 203 also inhibited, citing her close personal relationship
with a member of the prosecution panel.

June 6, 2018 – The Supreme Court denied with finality the petition of De Lima on her drug-
related arrest. The high court dismissed the senator's petition on October 10, 2017, but De
Lima’s camp filed another motion for reconsideration in November of the same year.
Jully 11, 2018 – The PNP denied the request of Senate President Vicente Sotto III to allow De
Lima to hold Senate hearings in jail. The PNP said it is not within its jurisdiction to grant such
request.

February 8, 2019 – The Senate Minority bloc filed a resolution calling on the Philippine
government to follow the recommendations made by the UN Human Rights Council's Working
Group on Arbitrary Detention, which called for De Lima's release. A similar resolution was also
issued at the House of Representatives.

April 11, 2019 – The Philippine Senate filed a resolution slamming the move of their US
counterparts who urged the national government to free De Lima. Philippine Senate Resolution
1037 called out the US Congress for "being an affront to the sovereignty of the Republic of the
Philippines and an undue interference on its judicial process."

March 14 and April 4, 2019 – Six American lawmakers filed a House Resolution calling on the
Philippine government to release De Lima. The resolution was introduced by California
Representative Jackie Speier. It was co-sponsored by Representatives James McGovern of
Massachusetts, Henry Johnson of Georgia, Jamie Raskin of Maryland, Brad Sherman of
California, and Lloyd Doggett of Texas. Nearly a month after, five American senators also filed
a resolution calling for the release of De Lima. The bipartisan resolution was filed by US
Senators Marco Rubio and Edward Markey.

July 18, 2019 – The PNP-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group filed a complaint against
key opposition figures, including De Lima, for inciting sedition over their supposed involvement
in viral videos linking the Duterte family to drugs.

December 23, 2019 – The 2020 State and Foreign Operations Appropriations, and Related
Programs Appropriations Bill signed by then US President Donald Trump included a provision
which bars Filipino public officials, who were involved in the arrest and detention of De Lima,
from entering the US.

December 27, 2019 – President Duterte ordered the Bureau of Immigration to bar US Senators
Dick Durbin and Patrick Leahy, who introduced the provision in the 2020 American budget to
prohibit the entry of "foreign government officials involved in the wrongful imprisonment...of
Senator Leila de Lima, who was arrested in the Philippines in 2017."

January 18, 2020 – De Lima said she filed a complaint against Duterte over the extrajudicial
killings before the International Criminal Court.

January 22, 2020 – The Supreme Court dismissed De Lima's request for a writ of habeas data, a
legal remedy that was supposed to protect her from Duterte's threats and verbal attacks.

January 2 and 9, 2020 – US lawmakers filed Senate Resolution 142 calling on the US
government to impose sanctions on Philippine officials involved in the detention of De Lima—
including the freezing of their assets. The resolution was passed a week after.
February 5 and 25, 2020 – De Lima appealed to the Supreme Court to reconsider its decision to
junk her case against Duterte in relation to his verbal attacks against her. Twenty days after, she
submitted to the US government a list of people who were behind her detention and must be
banned from entering the country.

July 20, 2020 - Following the death of high-profile drug convict and state witness Jaybee
Sebastian, De Lima maintained Sebastian was pressured by Duterte to fabricate testimonies
against her.

June 16 and 19, 2020 – De Lima filed a motion for bail before the Muntinlupa RTC Branch 166,
saying the evidence presented against her was not strong. Three days after, the court's Branch
205 rejected De Lima's request to attend Senate sessions via video call from her cell in Camp
Crame. The court said allowing her to virtually attend the sessions is "no different" from
allowing her to attend physically.

August 14, 2020 – De Lima filed another motion for bail in her second drug case, insisting that
the evidence against her is weak.

December 4. 2020 – Government prosecutors filed a petition for contempt against De Lima and
her lawyers for making public statements on the testimonies of witnesses in one of her drug
cases.

February 10, 2021 – The Supreme Court junked with finality its decision to deny the petition of
De Lima for protection against Duterte's verbal threats and attacks.

February 17, 2021 – The Muntinlupa RTC Branch 2015 junked De Lima's drug case with co-
accused Jose Adrian Dera. Dera's demurrer was denied but he was allowed to post bail.
However, the same court did not dismiss a separate drug case with co-accused Ronnie Dayan. De
Lima's demurrer to evidence and petition for bail were both denied by the court.

February 24, 2021 – De Lima’s camp maintained she did not receive ₱1.4 million in drug
money from the late drug lord Jaybee Sebastian when she was Justice Secretary.

March 4, 2021 – De Lima and her lawyer Boni Tacardon asked the Muntinlupa RTC Branch
2015 to dismiss the contempt case filed against them by government lawyers over their
statements on the testimonies of witnesses in one of her drug cases.

March 5, 2021 – The Muntinlupa RTC Branch 205 junked the appeal of De Lima and co-
accused Dayan to dismiss their drug cases. The court reaffirmed its earlier decision, adding that
De Lima and Dayan "must present their evidence to prove their innocence of the crime charged."

Oct. 8, 2021 – De Lima's detention did not stop her from filing her certificate of candidacy for
reelection through her official representative and spokesperson, Atty. Dino De Leon. Despite
being part of the opposition slate of the Leni Robredo-Kiko Pangilinan tandem, she was later on
prohibited from joining senatorial forums and debates, and even recording campaign video and
audio materials inside prison. She has been relying on a standee and some representatives to woo
voters for her on the campaign trail.

April 7, 2022 – De Lima refutes fake news about her health condition, revealing that her general
routine checkup, which included a chest x-ray, a colonoscopy, some laboratory tests, and other
medical procedures during her furlough did not yield any alarming results despite remaining in
detention for years.

April 26, 2022 – Muntinlupa RTC reschedules the hearing of De Lima's drug case to May 30
after New Bilibid Prison inmate Joel Capones failed to show up in court due to "high risk
security concerns."

April 28, 2022 – Self-confessed drug lord Kerwin Espinosa retracts his previous allegations that
he had drug dealings with De Lima through Dayan in the Bilibid, writing in sworn affidavit he
was only "coerced, pressured, intimidated, and seriously threatened by the police."

Prosecutor General Benedicto Malcontento earlier explained that the government did not cite
Espinosa as a witness because they were already satisfied with the testimonies of former Bureau
of Corrections chief Rafael Ragos and some inmates to convict De Lima.

April 30, 2022 – Like Espinosa, Ragos retracts his testimonies that he personally delivered
money from Bilibid inmates to De Lima through Dayan on two occasions in 2012. He claims
that Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre coerced him "to admit something that did not happen."

Supporters have renewed calls to immediately free the detained senator and hold accountable
those responsible for her detention.