In May, Leila de Lima earned a seat in the House of Representatives as the first nominee of the Mamamayang Liberal (ML) party-list, the sectoral arm of the Liberal Party (LP) and a newbie in Congress. To outsiders, the win is unexpected, as the party-list barely made the voter preference surveys leading up to the elections. But de Lima tells Rolling Stone Philippines she saw it coming: “I was confident in the movement, because everywhere I went to campaign, I always saw a very enthusiastic crowd.”
Her new term in Congress is not her first rodeo. De Lima served as a staff member of Supreme Court Associate Justice Isagani Cruz from 1986 to 1989 before entering private practice in the ‘90s, specializing in election law, and working as a secretary for the House of Representatives Electoral Tribunal.
In 2008, she was appointed chairperson of the Commission on Human Rights, where she would tackle cases like the Maguindanao Massacre and the Davao Death Squad, the first time she’d go head-to-head with Duterte. In 2010, she was appointed justice secretary, before running for and winning a Senate seat in 2016.
Her senatorial term was interrupted by her arrest and subsequent imprisonment on drug charges in 2017. In 2024, however, de Lima was acquitted.
In May, the Court of Appeals Eight Division nullified the Muntinlupa Regional Trial Court’s (RTC) decision to acquit her and remanded the case to the RTC. In June, the Muntinlupa court affirmed its decision.
De Lima said she intended to take a break and spend more time with family and friends after her time in prison. But preparations for the 20th Congress, as well as for the stalled impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte, have made her busy.
In this interview, the representative talks about gearing up for a new term in Congress, facing the Dutertes, and what it means for her to lead on principle.
How have you been spending this time between the elections and the beginning of the 20th Congress?
I’ve just started organizing my office.
I’m having difficulty with it because I discovered that I’m only entitled to about six plantilla items, which already includes the chief of staff. I intend to take [this] seriously and focus on the legislative agenda, especially [for] the marginalized sectors, and other significant bills, like the amendments to the Party-List System Act.
When I looked at the plantilla and their corresponding compensation, medyo mababa ang mga pay, so I’m having difficulty actually organizing and completing my office staff. And also, of course, I’m now trying to prepare a list of the committees that I would want to be a member of because I intend to join the minority.
I’m not at all inclined to join the majority. The ML party-list has already had some discussions on the way forward. We would like it to be by consensus, collective decision of the party. But if it’s not possible, then it’s going to be [my] personal decision, and I do not want to be part of the majority.
When you’re part of the minority, I don’t think you’re entitled to committee chairmanship, but you can be a committee member. I’ve started actually drawing up a list of the committees na gusto kong samahan, so that I can really participate in committee hearings and push for my legislative agenda. And of course, I’m
also bracing myself sa impeachment trial kapag matuloy na ‘yan.
Baka sa 20th Congress na ‘yan uumpisahan. I would be officially a member of the House of Representatives and a member of the prosecution panel alongside Representative Chel Diokno. So I’m also bracing myself for that.
I’ve started, of course, to review the records of the impeachment, although I’m not yet part of any discussion, formal discussion among the members of the prosecution panel. So ‘yan ang aking mga preparatory things.
Whenever I would tell the audience about the story of my persecution, of my almost seven years of unjust detention, how I did it, what it was like to be a person deprived of liberty, I could sense the sympathy of the audience.
What was it like campaigning again for a seat in Congress, this time with ML?
I did not intend to run for any electoral post after I was released from detention. Ang plano ko lang was just to return to my private law practice. I also planned to just resume my teaching at San Beda University College of Law. And, of course, to have more time with family. But barely two weeks after my release, the late Congressman Edcel Lagman, who was the LP president then, told me, “Why don’t you run again for the Senate?” And then I told him point blank, “No, sir. I’m not prepared at all. I have no resources.”
And then he said, “Whether or not you have any electoral plans, my advice to you is you go around the country and tell your story directly to the people.” So, that’s what I did. I accepted all sorts of speaking engagements, especially in schools and universities. And aside from talking about political issues, I also shared my stories with them.
Whenever I would tell the audience about the story of my persecution, of my almost seven years of unjust detention, how I did it, what it was like to be a person deprived of liberty, I could sense the sympathy of the audience. And then many of them would approach me, and they would always say, “Ma’am, are you a candidate for Senator?”
Then, in July 2024, the resolution of the Commission on Elections en banc was released, granting the petition for accreditation of ML as a party-list for the first time to participate in the 2025 elections.
Actually, ML, as a multi-sectoral organization, has been there already since the time of President Noynoy Aquino because he was also an LP member. So, he said that we should create our own sectoral formation because he says that you can never tell in politics. You know how it is. These politicians, most of them, usong-uso ‘yong turncoatism. Every time there is a ruling party, karamihan nag-jo-join sa new president.
So, sabi [ni President Noynoy], the foundation of the party remains strong and sound. Why don’t we open it for sectoral membership, non-politicians? So, it had existing already all through these years. But it was only last year that it was accredited as a party-list.
When that happened, Lagman and other LP officials like Kit Belmonte, Teddy Baguilat, and Erin Tañada talked to me again. They told me, “Since you don’t want to run for Senate, why don’t you consider being the lead nominee of ML?”
So, I thought about it. I did not say yes right away, but I did a lot of reflection and also consulted my family and some friends.
I thought that even as an ordinary citizen, I would still be able to pursue my core advocacies, especially justice, human rights, social justice, accountability, democracy, and sovereignty. But I was thinking, it’s easier to pursue if you have a platform, like an electoral post, to be able to effectively pursue your core advocacies. So, I said yes.
What would you say was the toughest part of this recent campaign?
It was really hard to start. It was not easy to run as a party-list, because there were a lot of contenders. There were 156 who vied for party-list nominations. And there are party-lists that are well-established already. They’ve been there, participating already for several successive party-list elections. They also have resources.
ML is a newbie, a neophyte. At first, almost no one knew what ML was. We didn’t have TV ads, [and] only a few radio ads. Another thing is that many people thought that I was running for the Senate, so there was this struggle to connect my name to ML.
And then, came the surveys. Oh my goodness. The surveys. We were always at the end. We were always on the third and fourth, or the last page.
I was telling the campaign staff — because some of them were already demoralized — “You know, don’t believe that survey, because it’s different. It’s not really a true measure of the strength or weakness of a party-list.”
I was confident in the movement, because everywhere I went to campaign, I always saw a very enthusiastic crowd. So I knew. I could sense that the ML would win. But I wasn’t sure if we could get more than one seat.
There are regional party-lists that are not captured by surveys. And I was telling them, I was confident in the movement, because everywhere I went to campaign, I always saw a very enthusiastic crowd. So I knew. I could sense that the ML would win. But I wasn’t sure if we could get more than one seat.
Of course, we wanted all three of us, including Baguilat and Tañada, to make it. We were determined in the hope that we could carry the two other seats. But it did not happen. We were [still] a bit ecstatic because it’s good enough for a first-timer [party-list]. So, we will just try harder in the next elections.
Do you think being in the House this time, rather than being in the Senate, will give you a new vantage point on the sorts of machinery at work in politics, especially after what you endured as a person deprived of liberty?
Since campaigning, I’ve had consultations with the various sectors that we represent, for purposes of priority legislation. When it comes to the margins, there are 10 sectors: women, youth, laborers, farmers, workers, urban poor, indigenous peoples, LGBTQIA+, PWDs, and senior citizens. Since we are representing diverse groups and diverse sectors, we can reach out to them for purposes of organization, [and] a louder pursuit of our advocacies.
Also, the way I see it, in the 19th Congress, the House of Representatives performed better than the Senate. Look at what they’re doing in the Senate. Supposedly, they are sitting as senator-judges, but they are showing bias or partiality towards the respondent, towards VP Sara. Hindi ba parang na-diminish ang integrity ng Senate as an institution?
But, of course, there are also bad things in the House of Representatives. For example, for what they did to the budget, the 2025 General Appropriations Act. But overall, one could say the House of Representatives performed better. And I’m looking forward to a 20th Congress and to a House of Representatives that is still like that, if not better and more effective.
Read the rest of the story in The State of Affairs issue of Rolling Stone Philippines. Order a copy on Sari-Sari Shopping, or read the e-magazine now here.
