After nearly seven years in jail on charges she always denied, former senator Leila De Lima, who is known to be a fierce critic of a former president’s bloody “war on drugs”, was granted bail on Monday, 13 November, by the Muntinlupa City Regional Trial Court.

The grant to post bail, according to the decision, arose from the failure of the prosecution to establish strong evidence of conspiracy to commit illegal drug trade.

The 64-year old De Lima faced various charges in 2017 within months of launching a Senate inquiry into President Rodrigo Duterte’s anti-narcotics campaign.

“Finally, I will be freed,” De Lima told reporters outside the court after her bail was granted.

“For years, my whole being has been crying out for justice and freedom,” she said.

Duterte, whose term ended in 2022, accused her of colluding with drugs gangs while she was justice minister, which led to charges of conspiracy to trade narcotics.

Two of three cases against De Lima have been dismissed and she had sought bail in the one pending case on health grounds, which the court granted on Monday.