Leila’s bail eases business concerns
A COALITION of business groups pushing for legal reforms welcomed on Monday the release of former senator Leila M. de Lima on bail, saying it boosts investor confidence in the Philippine legal system.
In a statement, the Justice Reform Initiative (JRI) called the prolonged detention of Ms. De Lima “unjustified,” and the cases leveled against her a “waste of public funds.”
Ms. De Lima, 64, was released from detention last Nov. 13 after a Muntinlupa City court granted her request for bail while being tried in the last of three drug cases which were filed against her along with other charges after she launched a Senate inquiry in 2016 into then-president Rodrigo R. Duterte’s deadly war on drugs.
“This is a stark reminder that indiscriminate weaponization of the law spares no one and denies the universal right of access to justice,” the JRI said.
“The improper or political use of law is one of the biggest fears of business and society, especially for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises and our less fortunate countrymen who can ill-afford the expense, inconvenience and undue hardship caused by baseless and protracted litigation,” it added.
The government estimates that at least 6,117 people were killed in Mr. Duterte’s drug war between July 1, 2016 and May 31, 2022, but human rights groups say the death toll could be as high as 30,000. — Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza