The camp of Sen. Leila de Lima welcomes the counter-affidavit of the fourth witness, who recanted his testimony accusing the opposition legislator of drug trafficking—another reason for them to call for the drug charges to be dropped once more.

A major government witness, Marcelo Adorco, recently retracted his charges against De Lima and self-confessed drug lord Kerwin Espinosa. Adorco, like other witnesses, stated that he had merely talked out of fear.

“Sa tingin namin, sumasalamin ito sa matagal na naming sinasabi na ang mga kaso laban kay Senator De Lima ay pawang gawa-gawa lamang ng mga taong tinakot at ginipit para gumawa ng kasinungalingan at palabasin na si Senator De Lima ay sangkot sa bentahan ng ilegal na droga,” said Filibon Tacardon, De Lima’s lawyer.

“Lumalabas na ang totoo kaya patuloy ang panawagan namin sa [Department of Justice] na muling suriin ang mga kasong isinampa nila laban kay Senator De Lima at tuluyan nang ibasura ito at palayain ang mahal nating Senadora.”

Espinosa, former Bureau of Corrections officer-in-charge Rafael Ragos, and Ronnie Dayan already withdrew their allegations against De Lima, who eventually stressed the illegal drug trade in Bilibid.

They both claimed that they were forced into speaking out against the senator by the Philippine National Police, former Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II, and others. Despite this, Aguirre denies it.

“As Duterte, the mastermind behind my unjust detention, is about to step down from power, we’ve seen the pattern of personalities finally speaking the truth and finding it in their conscience to retract their allegations implicating me in the illegal drug trade,” Delima said.

“Gaya ng lagi kong sinasabi: Naipakulong man nila ako, hinding-hindi nila maikukulong ang katotohanan na ako ay inosente. Lagi’t laging lalabas at mananaig ang katotohanan at hustisya.”

Leila De Lima is a well-known critic of President Rodrigo Duterte’s record on human rights and her bloody drug campaign.

Just this month, new Cavite Rep. Boying Remulla stated that he is willing to review the cases against de Lima.

The court will dismiss one of the senator’s three drug accusations in 2021. She was sentenced to five years in prison for the aforementioned allegations.