De Lima tells Roque to heed arrest order

Metro Manila, Philippines — Former Sen. Leila de Lima challenged former presidential spokesperson Harry Roque to face his arrest order if he has nothing to hide.

Roque has been evading his arrest order from the House of Representatives’ quad committee, which is investigating his links to illegal offshore gaming operations.

"Ako nga hinarap ko, eh, kahit gawa-gawang kaso. Hinarap ko 'yong batas. [I faced trumped-up charges. I faced the law.] I respected the rule of law," De Lima told reporters on Saturday, Oct. 5, after filing her candidacy for the 2025 party-list elections.

De Lima, a former justice secretary during the Aquino administration, said she went through the process of being tried for criminal charges for years. She described the process as "painful and tedious."

"Dapat ganun: Kung wala kang kasalanan, wala kang tinatago, harapin mo nang buong tapang," she said. "Hindi 'yong nagtatapangan lang siya by means of nagla-live feed nalang siya."

"Iniinsulto pa niya ang ating mga law enforcers," she added.

[Translation: It must be like that: If you did not do anything wrong, you have nothing to hide, face the order with courage, not just act brave by going into livestreaming. He's insulting our law enforcers.]

The Supreme Court denied Roque's petition for a writ of amparo as it was "not the proper remedy against Congressional contempt and detention orders."

The administration of former President Rodrigo Duterte filed three drug-related charges against De Lima, who was a vocal critic of Duterte's war on drugs.

As the presidential spokesperson at the time, Roque wished De Lima a lifetime in jail.

When Roque was the representative of the Kabayan Party-list in 2016, he asked vulgar and sexist questions to De Lima during a House committee hearing into De Lima's ties to the illegal drug trade.

"Siguro naman na-realize niya na kung gaano kamali ang nasabi niya sa akin, sa mga ginawa niya sa akin, I think he should realize that," De Lima told reporters. "Really, marunong talaga ang Diyos."

[Translation: Maybe he realized how wrong the things he said about me, the things that he did to me, I think he should realize that. Really, God is just.]

A former chairperson of the Commission on Human Rights, De Lima spent more than six years in detention before being cleared of all drug-related charges against her.

De Lima admitted she seeks a House seat as part of her efforts to rebuild herself. She is the first nominee of the Mamamayang Liberal Party-list.