In a recent House investigation into the Philippine drug war, former Senator Leila de Lima rebutted ex-President Rodrigo Duterte’s claim that she was the “mother of all drug lords,” dismissing the allegation as a baseless attempt to divert attention during his administration.
“That accusation is entirely false and fictitious,” De Lima stated, emphasizing that she had been acquitted in three drug-related cases. “They filed cases against me for alleged involvement in the drug trade, then amended it to conspiracy, and I have been absolved in all three cases. I had no connection to illegal drugs.”
Duterte recently commended officials for labeling De Lima as a central figure in the drug trade. During his presidency, former National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) officials Reynaldo Esmeralda and Ruel Lasala filed charges against De Lima, asserting her role in drug trafficking.
De Lima argued that she was used as a scapegoat to create a spectacle both domestically and internationally. “They used my name to draw public attention by portraying me as the ‘mother of all drug lords,'” she said. She also pointed out that many of her accusers, including convicted criminals and ex-officials, had retracted their statements.
“Those accusations have been retracted. I was cleared in three drug cases after undergoing a challenging and painful legal process,” she added. “They imprisoned me for seven years, driven by those who masterminded my persecution, including then-Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre, and others who manipulated witnesses into making defamatory statements.”
De Lima, who led the Senate’s investigation into drug war killings, was detained in 2017 and spent nearly seven years in prison before her final drug charge was dismissed in June 2024. The former senator was released on bail in late 2023 following the dismissal of multiple cases, including two disobedience charges.