De Lima says 'trumped up' drug cases show why death penalty must be opposed

Senator Leila De Lima on Friday said her detention in Camp Crame for alleged involvement in illegal drug trade would be the best argument to oppose the reimposition of death penalty in the Philippines.

"Not only is death penalty severe, it is also irreversible for the falsely accused which are aplenty in our deeply flawed justice system. I am one of them. The drug cases against me are all trumped-up, based on perjured or coerced testimonies from Bilibid inmates and other dubious characters," De Lima said in a statement read during a webinar.

"I thus say with much conviction that my situation ought to serve as the best argument against capital punishment. Imagine this scenario—there is now a death penalty and I get convicted!" she added.

Asserting that she is a victim of "false prosecution and malevolent persecution," the former Justice secretary said wrongful convictions are possible under what she called a "tyrannical, oppressive and evil regime."

De Lima slammed how President Rodrigo Duterte even mentioned death penalty during his fifth State of the Nation Address when the country is in the middle of a COVID-19 pandemic.

Duterte said Congress should allow lethal injection for drug convicts but according to Senate President Vicente Sotto III, the measure has higher chances of being passed if it will be confined only to high-level drug traffickers.

De Lima has been detained since 2017 for allegedly being involved in the drug trade during her tenure as Justice secretary. The senator has repeatedly denied the accusations.

One of those who accused her of being a protector of illegal drug operations in the New Bilibid Prison, high-profile inmate Jaybee Sebastian, recently died allegedly due to COVID-19.

Opposing the death penalty, De Lima relinquished her post in the Senate committee on justice to let Senator Risa Hontiveros—a fellow minority lawmaker—take her place and participate in the deliberations of the pending death penalty bills. -MDM, GMA News