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February 12, 2025 | 11:18am
MANILA, Philippines — Before, she was just a standee—now, she’s here, shouting.
Leila de Lima, once confined behind bars, returned to the campaign trail on Tuesday, February 11, in Dasmariñas City, Cavite. No longer just a cardboard cutout with an open palm, she joined candidates aligned with former Vice President Leni Robredo.
In 2022, she campaigned from a prison cell—her name on the ballot, but her body absent—detained on drug charges that were later dismissed by Muntinlupa courts. Back then, her allies carried her likeness, a cardboard standee held high onstage.
At the kickoff of this year's senatorial campaign, fellow nominees from De Lima's party list, Mamamayang Liberal, including Erin Tañada and Teddy Baguilat, once again brought her standee onto the stage.
Wearing her signature scarf, De Lima entered the stage shouting: “Teka, teka, anong ginagawa niyan dito? Nandito na ako! Malaya na ako!”
(Wait, wait, what's that doing here? I'm already here! I'm free!)
“This is the thing of the past,” De Lima said referring to her standee.
She expressed how much she missed the energy of a crowd and the joy of taking selfies, noting that her detention had deprived her of such experiences.
“Nag-eenjoy ako ngayon, sa pakikipag selfie sa inyo, wala po kasi akong selfie sa loob, wala akong cellphone. So ngayon lang po ako makakagamit ng cellhpone pang selfie,” De Lima said.
(I'm enjoying taking selfies with you all now, because I didn't have any selfies taken inside; I didn't have a cellphone. So, this is the first time I've been able to use a cellphone to take selfies.)
“Napakasarap mangampanya na hindi ka na standee,” she added.
(It's so wonderful to campaign without just being a standee.)
De Lima is now the lead nominee of Mamamayang Liberal, aiming for a seat in the House of Representatives.
This marks her first bid for the lower chamber since winning a Senate seat in 2016.
She was imprisoned in 2017 during her tenure in the Senate on trumped-up drug trafficking charges stemming from allegations made by former President Rodrigo Duterte, whom De Lima has been a staunch critic of.
Despite being in jail, she ran for reelection in the 2022 national elections, however, she fell short placing 23rd only bagging 7,278,602 votes.
She was then acquitted of all of her drug charges in June 2024 after the Muntinlupa Regional Trial Court Branch 206 disregarded the prosecution’s evidence against her on the account of the witnesses who recanted.
As she seeks a position in the lower chamber, she aims to join another allied party, Akbayan Partylist, led by human rights lawyer Chel Diokno.
De Lima is also aligned with senatorial aspirants Bam Aquino and Kiko Pangilinan, whom she worked with during the 2022 polls.
The 90-day campaign period for senatorial candidates and party lists began on February 11 and will end on May 10.
