Leila vows rebuilding her life, vindication

Former senator Leila de Lima yesterday vowed relentless pursuit of vindication and rebuilding after legal victory.

The former senator was released on Monday evening after the Muntinlupa Trial Court granted her bail petition for the last remaining drug case against her.

De Lima said her temporary liberty is already a dismissal, but she still needs to work for her complete vindication by seeking the dismissal of her last remaining illegal drug case.

She said she is determined for people to know that she has been innocent all along, and she wants people to understand how it happened, for the people to know who were behind it.

She also said she wants to rebuild her life and reputation destroyed by those who orchestrated the cases against her.

"They destroyed my life, that's why I'm going to rebuild my life. They destroyed and ruined my name, my reputation," she said. "Now that I'm free, I'm going to work hard to redeem my name, and complete vindication is the key."

De Lima described every moment of her nearly seven years in detention as a test and a fight to rise above her sorrow, fear, uncertainties, and the "temptation to be overcome by hate and vindictive thoughts."

She said her incarceration may have taken years of her life, but it failed to take her humanity.

De Lima said she had no regrets about what she had done and stood for. While she wished things had turned out differently, she said there were matters beyond her control.

"But for things that were, what I did, how I reacted, and my reasons for fighting for those who were victimized and those who cannot speak for themselves, I have no regrets," she said.

She said her fight for her advocacies will continue, and she will work side by side with the opposition she remains with.