MANILA — The camp of detained Sen. Leila de Lima on Tuesday sought a review of the drug charges against her, which her lawyer said were "starting to fall" after another witness took back his testimony.

Prosecution witness Joel Capones admitted in open court on Monday that he did not know and did not have any transaction with De Lima. He previously linked her to drug convict Jaybee Sebastian.

• One more witness denies knowing, transacting with De Lima

"Regardless of who should be the Department of Justice secretary under this administration, considering the recantations we've had, it appears and it' very evident that these contrived charges are already starting to fall," said De Lima's lawyer Dino de Leon.

"So, it is important for them to review the case," he told ANC's "Rundown."

De Leon considered Capones’ testimony significant because he was the only witness so far to have openly admitted to being involved in the illegal drug trade.

"For us, it's a very crucial factor. If you have a self-confessed drug lord supposedly who has already been convicted for murder before, then obviously we have to take his word with a grain of salt especially considering the fact that he's no longer at the rate of perjury because he's already incarcerated," he said.

"I think he has around 19 years of sentence left. That means there's more incentive for him to lie because he's also under consideration in terms of parole."

Detained since 2017, De Lima has been fighting drug charges which she calls “political persecution” allegedly spurred by her criticism of President Rodrigo Duterte's anti-narcotics crackdown, which his administration denies.

Three other witnesses have so far recanted allegations against her.

In April, self-confessed drug lord Kerwin Espinosa took back all his allegations against De Lima during a 2016 Senate hearing that he gave a total of P8 million in drug payoffs to her when she was still justice secretary, through her former driver Ronnie Dayan.

• 'Not true': Kerwin Espinosa recants all allegations vs De Lima, says lawyer

A few days later, former Bureau of Corrections officer-in-charge Rafael Ragos also recanted his testimony in court that he personally delivered P10 million of alleged drug money to Dayan at De Lima’s house in Parañaque.

Ragos also accused former justice secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II of pressuring him to testify against De Lima. Aguirre has denied the claim.

• Another witness retracts drug accusations vs De Lima

In mid-May, Dayan testified in his defense that no delivery of drug money to De Lima’s house ever happened. He also recanted his earlier testimony before the House of Representatives that he supposedly received drug money from Espinosa.

De Lima has moved to dismiss 1 of her 2 pending drug cases by submitting Ragos’ affidavit in court.

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