MANILA – Senator Leila de Lima on Tuesday said she will seek the help of the Supreme Court amid the attacks of President Rodrigo Duterte and his men.

De Lima, who has been tagged by the president as a coddler of drug lords, told reporters Tuesday she will file petitions for writ of amparo and habeas data against the president.

De Lima, a lawyer, while noting that Duterte enjoys immunity from suit as president, believes that the doctrine is not absolute. She said her two petitions are "extraordinary remedies" which she can resort to amid the president’s “blatant abuse of power.”

“I’m going to file a test case na may mga pagkakataon po na hindi pwedeng mag-invoke ang president ng immunity from suit,” she said.

De Lima said she believes the framers of the doctrine of presidential immunity from suit did not intend to protect an “abusive president.”

“Dito kasi sa lawak at sa sobrang sama ng ginagawa nila sa akin, ito ang pagkakataon na ma-test natin ang doctrine of presidential immunity from suit,” De Lima said.

“I don’t think ang mga nakaisip ng doktrina na iyan, ng immunity from suit, could have ever comprehended a situation like this where there is blatant abuse of power.”

Aside from challenging the president before the high court, De Lima said she is filing the cases to warn Duterte’s officials and allies.

"That would serve notice to concerned officials to be careful about their moves," said De Lima.

She also said that this will be a wake-up call for the President who, she said, has continuously abused his presidential powers.

"I just have to show, I just have to demonstrate that he has grossly abused his powers as the President in vilifying and insulting, offending me and utilizing the resources of the government in harassing and persecuting me," said De Lima.

According to the SC, the writ of amparo is a remedy available to any person whose right to life, liberty and security is violated or threatened with violation by an unlawful act or omission of a public official or employee, or of a private individual or entity.

The writ of habeas data, on the other hand, is a remedy available to any person whose right to privacy in life, liberty or security is violated or threatened by an unlawful act or omission of a public official or employee, or of a private individual or entity engaged in the gathering, collecting or storing of data or information regarding the person, family, home and correspondence of the aggrieved party.

De Lima disclosed her plan after the Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption, through its president Dante Jimenez, filed drug charges against her and seven others before the DOJ.

• READ: De Lima, 7 others charged with drug trafficking

De Lima said she is ready to face the charges, but she slammed the complainants for filing the case before the Department of Justice, instead of the Office of the Ombudsman.

"The lawyers of VACC and Atty. Topacio should know that such a case against me for acts done while [I was] Secretary of Justice should be filed with the Ombudsman, not the DOJ," she said.

"Although the DOJ may initially take cognizance, this case against me would eventually only be filed by the DOJ with the Ombudsman for another round of fact-finding investigation," De Lima said, noting that the complainants are "wasting time."

De Lima also challenged her critics to "file [cases] directly with the Ombudsman, which is the proper agency with jurisdiction, instead of the DOJ" which she considered as the domain of Justice secretary Vitaliano Aguirre, whom she labelled as "the master of fakery."