Senator Leila De Lima is escorted by heavy guards as she attends her hearing at the Quezon City Regional Trial Court on Friday, June 22, 2018. The detained senator is seeking reelection for the 2022 polls. Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News
MANILA - Detained Senator Leila De Lima is seeking reelection in the 2022 polls, as she filed her certificate of candidacy Friday through an authorized representative.
Atty. Dino de Leon, De Lima's spokesperson, filed the senator's COC on her behalf.
One of President Rodrigo Duterte's fiercest critics, the lawmaker, confirmed her reelection bid last July, adding she would demand an accounting of the president's unfulfilled campaign promises.
The 62-year-old lawmaker has been detained since Feb. 24, 2017 over her alleged involvement in the illegal drugs trade. She has denied the charges and said the incarceration was meant to silence her. A court acquitted De Lima in one of the three drug cases against her.
She earlier requested a Muntinlupa court to allow a photographer and a lawyer's visit as she prepared for her COC filing.
De Lima ranks 32 to 36 in the list of preferred candidates based on Pulse Asia's latest survey on the Filipinos' preferred senatorial candidates.
Before her stint in the Senate, she was a chairman of the Commission on Human Rights and the secretary of the Department of Justice.
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