Former senator and now Mamamayang Liberal party-list Rep. Leila de Lima pushed back sharply against Senator Robin Padilla after he drew a comparison between her drug-related cases and those facing Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa, calling Padilla’s framing distorted and demanding he answer for the thousands killed in the war on drugs.
In a Facebook post, Padilla argued that the two cases were fundamentally different — claiming one senator was “allegedly connected to drug lords” while the other was “allegedly connected to neutralizing drug lords,” a clear attempt to distinguish Dela Rosa’s record as former Philippine National Police chief from the charges once leveled against De Lima.
De Lima rejected the comparison outright. “Excuse me, Sen. Robin. Huwag nyo nga akong gamitin sa baluktot nyong naratibo,” she wrote, reminding the public that she had already been acquitted of what she described as fabricated cases against her. She drew a firm line between her situation and that of Dela Rosa, whom she labeled “a fugitive from justice.”
De Lima also took aim at the “neutralizing drug lords” characterization, challenging Padilla to make that argument before the families of the thousands of victims of extrajudicial killings and before the International Criminal Court. “Saka neutralizing drug lords talaga? Sabihin nya yan sa pamilya ng libo-libong biktima ng EJK. Ipaliwanag nya yan sa ICC,” she said.
The exchange is the latest flashpoint in a running feud between the two lawmakers. De Lima, who served years in detention beginning in 2017 on drug-related charges, was cleared when a Muntinlupa court dismissed her final case in 2024. Dela Rosa, a co-architect of the Duterte administration’s anti-drug campaign, is the subject of an ICC arrest warrant tied to alleged crimes against humanity, and went into hiding for months to evade it.
De Lima had earlier warned that Padilla could face obstruction of justice, harboring a criminal fugitive, and aiding-and-abetting charges over his role in Dela Rosa’s departure from the Senate on May 14. The PNP Criminal Investigation and Detection Group has since announced it would refer a complaint against Padilla and others to the Department of Justice, alleging the senator’s exit was not a simple hitched ride but a coordinated, pre-planned maneuver to avoid arrest.
