Bato says he and Duterte have yet to talk about De Lima's release

Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa on Tuesday said he and former president Rodrigo Duterte have yet to discuss the release of former Senator Leila de Lima after nearly seven years in detention.

“Wala po. Hindi pa kami nag-usap tungkol diyan (No. We have yet to talk about that),” Dela Rosa, who was the Philippine National Police chief when De Lima was arrested, told GMA Integrated News’ Unang Balita.

De Lima, a vocal critic of Duterte during his term, was released from the Philippine National Police (PNP) Custodial Center in Camp Crame, Quezon City on Monday night after posting bail.

The Muntinlupa Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 206 granted her motion for reconsideration on her bail petition in her remaining drug case.

De Lima and her co-accused—former Corrections Director Franklin Bucayu, Ronnie Dayan, Joenel Sanchez, and Jad Dera—were allowed to post bail in the amount of P300,000 each.

'Respects court's decision'

While he respects the decision, Dela Rosa said he disagrees with the court which stated that the prosecution failed to strengthen the accusation that De Lima was guilty.

“Hindi ibig sabihin porke nadi-dismiss ngayon at noon nagho-hold water ang kaso ni Senator De Lima ay wala talagang basehan ang pagkaso sa kaniya,” he said.

(Just because the drug cases were dismissed it does not mean that the cases against her were baseless.)

“In fact, nakasuhan siya, nalabasan ng warrant of arrest so korte ang nagbigay ng warrant of arrest so hindi natin masasabi na walang basehan,” he added.

(In fact, she faced cases and the court issued an arrest warrant so we cannot say they have no basis.)

According to Dela Rosa, the view on the cases possibly has changed since Duterte finished his term as president.

“Siguro nagbago lang ang paningin sa kaso ngayon na wala na si President Rodrigo Duterte pero talagang may basis iyong korte,” he said.

(Maybe, the view on the cases has changed now as Duterte is no longer the president.)

'Counter-charges'

De Lima on Monday said that while pursuing counter-charges against those behind her detention for drug charges is always an option, she is still discussing with her lawyers about definite plans to do so.

“Pinaguusapan namin yan ng mga abugado ko. Wala muna kaming mga specifics na mga pwedeng i-announce about that. There’s always that option, but as to definite plans, pinag-uusapan namin,” De Lima said at a briefing.

[My lawyers and I are talking about it. We don’t have specifics that we can announce about that. There’s always that option, but as to definite plans, we are talking about it.]

She also hoped God would “forgive” and “bless” Duterte when asked for her message to the chief executive.

De Lima has been detained in Camp Crame since February 2017 over allegations of drug trade, which she has repeatedly denied.

Her first acquittal came in February 2021 when the Muntinlupa City RTC Branch 205 junked one of her three cases.

On May 12, the Muntinlupa RTC Branch 204 acquitted De Lima and Dayan, her co-accused and former bodyguard, of an illegal drug trading charge on the grounds of reasonable doubt. — RSJ, GMA Integrated News