Push Admin

Former Senator Leila De Lima attends a thanksgiving Mass at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish in Quezon City on February 24, 2024, during the seventh anniversary of her arrest and incarceration in Camp Crame. Maria Tan, ABS-CBN News/File

Article (news)

LEILA-DE-LIMA 06272024

Pia Gutierrez

Vivienne Gulla

ABS-CBN News

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:950px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/171946436808020240224-leila de lima-7th anniversary-mass-MT-9.jpg" style="width:950px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" alt="Former Senator Leila De Lima attends a thanksgiving Mass at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish in Quezon City on February 24, 2024, during the seventh anniversary of her arrest and incarceration in Camp Crame. Maria Tan, ABS-CBN News/File  "/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left"><span id="isPasted" style="color:rgb(51, 51, 51);letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:left;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;white-space:pre-wrap;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-color:initial;display:inline !important;float:none">Former Senator Leila De Lima attends a thanksgiving Mass at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish in Quezon City on February 24, 2024, during the seventh anniversary of her arrest and incarceration in Camp Crame. <em>Maria Tan, ABS-CBN News/File </em></span><em> </em></span></span></span> </div><p>MANILA – The dismissal of former Senator Leila De Lima’s third and final drug case should prove to the International Criminal Court that the Philippine judicial system is working properly, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said Thursday.</p><p>“Maybe this is something we should show the ICC. The Judiciary is working properly. Our investigative services are working properly and former Senator De Lima has been acquitted,” Marcos told reporters. </p><p>On Monday, a Muntinlupa court granted De Lima&#x27;s demurrer to evidence in her last and third drug case.  </p><p>The cases, filed during the previous administration, was said to be politically motivated due to De Lima&#x27;s criticism of former President Rodrigo Duterte&#x27;s drug war.</p><p>The ICC is investigating the anti-drug campaign, which killed thousands of suspected drug users, according to human rights groups.</p><p>De Lima said she would help the ICC in its probe. She also urged the Marcos administration to cooperate and &quot;consider aiding the enforcement&quot; of a potential arrest warrant for Duterte.</p><p>But Marcos maintained that the ICC has no jurisdiction over the Philippines.</p><p>“(De Lima) has said that she would like to help the ICC. But that’s between her and the ICC. We still stay with our position that the ICC had no jurisdiction in the PH because we have a working police force, we have a working judiciary and do not require any assistance in that regard,” he said.</p><div><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/2024/6/26/doj-to-determine-if-appeal-will-be-filed-to-reverse-de-lima-acquittal-1534">De Lima eyes charges vs ex-Duterte officials behind bogus drug charges</a></div><p>But Albay First District Rep. Edcel Lagman said de Lima’s &quot;much belated acquittal...of all the Duterte-fabricated drug charges against her does not evince that the Philippine justice system is working for all drug offenders and victims.”</p><p>“As long as former President Rodrigo Duterte, the principal instigator of the drug-related extrajudicial killings is not indicted before the proper Philippine court, the Philippine justice system still fails to work for all the perpetrators and their victims,”<span id="isPasted" style="color:rgb(65, 65, 65);letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:left;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;white-space:normal;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-color:initial;display:inline !important;float:none"> Lagman said in a statement.</span></p><p>House Deputy Minority Leader and ACT Teachers party-list Rep. France Castro also rejected Marcos Jr.’s statement, saying “many” alleged human rights violations during the previous administration&#x27;s drug war campaign have yet to be investigated.</p><p>The lawmaker said the ICC’s involvement remains crucial in holding the perpetrators accountable.</p><p>&quot;President Marcos Jr.&#x27;s attempt to use Sen. De Lima&#x27;s case as a shield against ICC intervention is not only misguided but also a grave insult to the thousands of victims of the brutal drug war,&quot; she said in a statement.</p><p>&quot;Sen. De Lima&#x27;s case is just one out of thousands of drug-related cases during Duterte&#x27;s bogus drug war, most of which resulted in the death of the supposed suspects. Even if we add de Lima&#x27;s case to the 52 cases that the PNP and the Department of Justice (DOJ) probed, it&#x27;s not even 1 percent of the 6,000 drug war deaths based on government figures, even less so when we use data from human rights organizations,&quot; Castro added.</p><p>House Deputy Majority Leader and ACT-CIS <span id="isPasted" style="color:rgb(65, 65, 65);letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:left;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;white-space:normal;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-color:initial;display:inline !important;float:none">party-list Rep.</span> Erwin Tulfo, meanwhile, expressed support for the President’s statement.</p><p>“’Yung dismissal ng case ni Senadora Leila de Lima, ang sinasabi natin, the Philippine justice system is working,” he said. “As a member of the administration, I would agree na ‘yung judicial processes natin is working… Dito naman kay Pangulong Duterte… maybe we can try din our courts na lang.” </p><p>Before her arrest, De Lima had spent a decade investigating &quot;death squad&quot; killings allegedly orchestrated by Duterte until she was arrested in 2017 and spent more than six years in prison.</p><p>The 64-year-old vowed that Duterte would not go scot-free for the drug war killings as well as her imprisonment.</p><p>&quot;This is my message to the former president, Mr Duterte: Now it&#x27;s your turn to answer for your sins against the people.&quot;</p><div><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/2024/6/25/de-lima-eyes-charges-vs-ex-duterte-officials-behind-bogus-drug-charges-2151">De Lima eyes charges vs ex-Duterte officials behind bogus drug charges</a></div><div><ivs-player data-ivs-key="e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603" data-ivs-spid="3001339" data-ivs-vid="3058893"></ivs-player></div><script src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/js/loader.js"></script><p>De Lima had been freed on bail in November last year, having earlier been cleared of two other drugs charges.</p><p>The last case concerned allegations she took money from inmates inside the country&#x27;s largest prison to allow them to sell drugs while she was justice minister from 2010-2015.</p><p>&quot;The prosecution was not able to prove the guilt of all the accused beyond reasonable doubt,&quot; regional trial court judge Gener Gito wrote in his verdict, acquitting de Lima and four other defendants of illegal drug trading.</p><div><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/2024/6/25/-opposition-figures-must-have-alternative-policies-clear-positions-on-issues-de-lima-759">‘Opposition’ figures must have alternative policies, clear positions on issues — De Lima</a></div><div><ivs-player data-ivs-key="e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603" data-ivs-spid="3001339" data-ivs-vid="3059316"></ivs-player></div><script src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/js/loader.js"></script><div><strong>– With a report from </strong><strong>Agence France-Presse</strong></div>

<p>The dismissal of former Senator Leila De Lima’s third and final drug case should prove to the International Criminal Court that the Philippine judicial system is working properly, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said Thursday.</p>

The dismissal of former Senator Leila De Lima’s third and final drug case should prove to the International Criminal Court that the Philippine judicial system is working properly, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said Thursday.

Marcos to ICC: De Lima acquittal proof that PH justice system 'working properly'

News

Entertainment

Lifestyle

Sports

Metro.Style

More

Sudoku

Word of the Day

Lotto

Horoscope

News

Marcos to ICC: De Lima acquittal proof that PH justice system 'working properly'

Pia Gutierrez,

Vivienne Gulla,

ABS-CBN News

Published June 27, 2024 01:20 PM PHT

|

Updated June 28, 2024 02:14 PM PHT

Read More:

ANC promo

ICC

Leila De Lima

Marcos

Marcos Duterte

Rodrigo Duterte

ABS-CBN is the leading media and entertainment company in the Philippines, offering quality content across TV, radio, digital, and film. Committed to public service and promoting Filipino values, ABS-CBN continues to inspire and connect audiences worldwide.

Corporate

Investors

Governance

International Distribution

Corporate

Governance

Investors

International Distribution

NPC Seal of Registration

Privacy Policy

AI Policy

Terms of Service

Advertise with Us

© 2026 ABS-CBN Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

NPC Seal of Registration

Privacy Policy

Terms of Service

AI Policy

Advertise with Us

© 2026 ABS-CBN Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

NPC Seal of Registration

Privacy Policy

Terms of Service

AI Policy

Advertise with Us

© 2026 ABS-CBN Corporation. All Rights Reserved.