Manila, Philippines – Leila de Lima was released from detention last month into what the former Philippines senator calls “a whole new world”.
In 2016, then-President Rodrigo Duterte promised to “destroy” de Lima, one of the loudest critics of his deadly drug war. The president’s supporters began targeting the first-term senator and former human rights commissioner – ridiculing her for an alleged romantic affair with her driver, and accusing her of involvement in drug trafficking.
