MANILA - Detained Sen. Leila de Lima has been given the "Prize for Freedom" award by an international federation of liberal political parties for her "exceptional contribution to the advancement of human rights" in the Philippines.

The senator's son and siblings on Saturday received the award on her behalf at Novotel Manila in Quezon City.

The senator is the second Filipino to receive the award, after former President Corazon Aquino in 1987.

• De Lima gets top human rights award from int'l group

De Lima joins former awardees Argentinian President Raul Alfonsin, former Pakistan Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, and Myanmar State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, among others.

In 2016, De Lima was also among the 100 Foreign Policy Global Thinkers recognized in Washington D.C. She was also included in TIME's 100 Most Influential People in 2017 along with President Rodrigo Duterte.

• De Lima receives award for standing up against Duterte
• Duterte, De Lima on TIME list is part of ‘good vs evil’ narrative: analysts

Juli Minoves, president of Liberal International, said they are concerned about the detention of the senator on what they believe are trumped-up charges.

"It’s not a question of being a critic in politics, one has to criticize each other in democracy, it’s part of the game. We actually are very concerned about Sen. De Lima because of justice, not because of criticism. Because we don’t believe that the charges against her are real charges but are brought to silence her," Minoves told ANC.

In 2017, Minoves was supposed to visit De Lima in her detention cell in Camp Crame but was barred by the police.

• Liberal International president denied De Lima visit

De Lima is accused of benefitting from the illegal drug trade inside the national penitentiary when she was justice chief under the previous administration.

She has repeatedly dismissed the charges as political persecution.