'It's an honor to be jailed for what I'm fighting for,' De Lima says

MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Leila De Lima, who was arrested Friday on drug charges that she says are trumped up, said that it is an honor for her to be jailed for what she has been fighting for.

In a statement to reporters before she turned herself in to police officers of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group, De Lima was defiant and maintained her innocence.

She denied that she benefited from the illegal drugs trade, received drug money or protected drug convicts at the New Bilibid Prison.

"Katulad ho ng lagi kong sinasabi at inuulit ko ngayon inosente po ako. Wala pong katotohanan at pawang kasinungalingan ang mga pinaparatang po nila sa akin na ako di umano ay nakinabang sa droga, na di umano tumanggap ng drug money, na di umano ay nag-protect ng drug convicts. Pawang hong kasinungalingan yan," De Lima said.

De Lima said she believes that the truth will prevail in the end and vowed to continue fighting for the things that she believed made her the fiercest critic of President Rodrigo Duterte.

"Kung sa tingin po nila ay mapapatahimik po ako, kung sa tingin po nila ay hindi na po ako lalaban dun sa mga pinaglalaban ko lalo na sa katotohanan, sa katarungan laban sa mga araw-araw na pagpatay at mga iba pa na mga panggigipit, paniniil nitong rehimeng Duterte. Karangalan ko po na ako'y makulong dahil sa mga pinaglalaban ko. Ipagdasal niyo lang po ako," she said.

De Lima was arrested by the CIDG on Friday morning following the release of an arrest order by Judge Juanita Guerrero of Branch 204 of the Regional Trial Court of Muntinlupa.

"After a careful evaluation of the herein information and all the evidence presented during the preliminary investigation conducted in this case by the Department of Justice, Manila, the Court finds sufficient probable cause for the issuance of Warrants of Arrest against all the accused Leila M. De Lima, Rafael Marcos Z. Ragos and Ronnie Palisoc Dayan," Guerrero said in her arrest order.

The Liberal Party severely criticized Guerrero for her "deplorable haste" to issue the arrest order.

LP said it doubts Guerrero was able read the "thick" motion to quash filed by the senator's lawyers considering reports it received indicated that she had just returned from Macau.

"Ang balita namin, kakarating lang ng Macau nitong judge. Ang alam namin makapal ang motion to quash na finile sa kanyang korte. Basahin naman niya ang motion. The haste is deplorable,"  the party said Thursday evening.

A hearing on De Lima's motion to quash was scheduled for Friday morning but has been postponed.

De Lima is considered a thorn in the side of Duterte's administration. She initiated a Senate investigation into the extrajudicial killings that dramatically rose upon the assumption to office of the president last year. She had also previously investigated allegations of the existence of a vigilante Davao Death Squad in Davao City while she was chairperson of the Commission on Human Rights and again when she was Justice secretary to President Benigno Aquino III.

The president, who says in his speeches that he has two wives, accused her of being "immoral" for having a romantic affair with her driver and for benefiting from the illegal drugs trade at the NBP.