Philippine court orders arrest of critic of president

By Roy Ramos

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (AA) - A Philippine court has ordered the arrest of a senator instrumental in worldwide criticism of President Rodrigo Duterte’s bloody campaign against illegal drugs.

The Muntinlupa Regional Trial Court issued the warrant Thursday for Leila de Lima over the alleged proliferation of illegal drugs inside the national penitentiary during her term as justice secretary in 2010-2015, local media reported.

Warrants were also issued for her former driver-bodyguard Ronnie Dayan and former Bureau of Corrections officials Franklin Jesus Bucayu and Rafael Ragos.

Dayan is accused of serving as De Lima’s bagman while Ragos has claimed that he delivered 10 million Philippine pesos ($199,000) to De Lima and Dayan in separate occasions, according to news broadcaster ABS-CBN.

De Lima has denied the charges, calling herself a victim of political persecution and saying she has long prepared herself to be the first “political prisoner” under the Duterte administration.

A human rights advocate, she has called for foreign intervention to put an end to the “state-inspired” extrajudicial murders she says have been instigated by Duterte since he was elected to power.

Since Duterte’s inauguration June 30, an anti-drug drive has seen more than 7,000 people killed over suspected drug links -- with over 60 percent of the deaths attributed to “vigilante-style killings” and the remainder to police operations, according to national police data cited by Rappler.