MANILA — Witness recantations were not a factor in the Muntinlupa court's decision to grant her and her co-defendants bail, former Sen. Leila de Lima said Wednesday, adding it was granted after a thorough review of the case.

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She said that although there have been witnesses who have recanted their testimony against her, these were not the ones that prosecutors presented at bail hearings.

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"It's just that the new judge, in reviewing throroughly — in scrutinizing the whole records of the case — found that there was no sufficient evidence. [He] found lots of loopholes, inconsistencies and incredibility in the testimony of most of the bail witnesses," she told ANC's "Headstart".

Testimony by Baguio Mayor Benjamin Magalong, a former police general, "was even favorable to me even if he was a witness for the prosecution," she also said.

In his ruling, Muntinlupa Regional Trial Court Branch 206 Judge Gener Gito said prosecution witnesses "were not able to clearly establish that there exists a conspiracy among them to commit illegal drug trading."

The court said that bail had to be granted "as the prosecution was not able to discharge its burden of establishing that guilt of said accused is strong."

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Other witnesses have yet to be formalize their recantations and submit these to the court, de Lima said.

"And that is why it's wrong for some people to say that the basis for the grant of my bail now — my bail and the bail of my co-accused — is the recantation of these witnesses."