In this Feb. 13, 2017 photo, Philippine Sen. Leila de Lima takes her seat during a session in the Philippine Senate in suburban Pasay city, south of Manila, Philippines. Philippine justice secretary said Friday, Feb. 17, 2017, criminal charges have been filed against the opposition senator allegedly receiving money from detained drug lords in a move that can lead to the arrest of one of the president's most vocal critics.

Start the conversation, or Read more at SFGate. </s> President Rodrigo Duterte’s scathing attacks on Sen. Leila de Lima are far from over.

On Monday, the President said his nemesis should hang herself or resign from her post.

“If I were de Lima, ladies and gentleman, I’ll hang myself. Your life, as well as the innermost of your core as a female, is being serialized everyday,” Duterte said when interviewed in Samar where he visited the wake of PO1 Gary Cabaguing, who was killed during an anti-drug operation.

Duterte earlier slammed de Lima for being “immoral” for having an affair with her married driver, saying the latter profited from the illegal drug trade.

Yesterday, the President said de Lima should resign from her Senate post because she is no role model for women.

“Mag resign ka (You should resign). Wala kang ipakita…anong ipapakita mo sa mga babae (You have nothing to show. What are you going to tell women, follow me? [That] this is how to be a woman of the world?” Duterte said.

He admitted that his bad blood with de Lima started when she, as the chairperson of the Commission on Human Rights, investigated Duterte’s links to the Davao Death Squad (DDS), a vigilante group that killed suspected criminals in Davao City where Duterte served as mayor from 1998 to 2016.

 Duterte said DDS stands for Davao Development System.

“That is what’s tough. When I was the mayor, she said she would prove that Duterte is the leader of the DDS. Why do you have to interpret it the wrong way?” the President said.

“Sino bang gustong pumatay (Who really wants to kill?) You think it is very easy to kill a fellow human being? You build the nation on the bones of your countrymen?” he added.

Neither weak nor guilty

 But de Lima rejected Duterte’s advice.

While she admitted that she considered resigning because of the vicious attacks against her, she chose not to.

“After much reflection resignation at this point will be an admission of guilt and a sign of weakness and I’m neither weak nor guilty,” de Lima stressed.

The senator said she has no intention to attend the hearing of the House of Representatives on the alleged proliferation of drugs at the National Bilibid Prison during her term as Justice secretary.

“I have been adjudged guilty already by the President and do you think that House inquiry will be anything near fair to me?” de Lima said.

“I’m finished in so far as the President is concerned that is why he wants me to resign and then I will show up in that hearing? I won’t have any respect left for myself if I do that,” the senator added.

De Lima earlier said that she is willing to resign if the President can prove her alleged links to illegal drugs. </s> MANILA, Philippines – President Rodrigo Duterte wants his fiercest critic in the legislature, Senator Leila De Lima, to step down.

"Dapat ka mag-resign (You should resign), you resign," said Duterte, addressing De Lima during a short speech on Monday, August 29, in Tacloban City.

Not one to mince words, Duterte even said that if he were in her place, he would take his own life.

"If I were De Lima, ladies and gentlemen, I will hang myself. The innermost of your core as female being serialized every day," said the President.

He was referring to De Lima's private affairs, including her supposed romantic relationship with her driver, that are now public knowledge largely due to the President's announcement during the Philippine National Police service anniversary.

Duterte, who previously blasted De Lima for "immorality," said the lady senator would make a bad example for women.

"Pinapakita mo 'yan, you resign. Ano'ng pakita mo sa mga babae, 'Follow me,' sabihin mo? (You are showing that, you resign. What are you showing women, 'Follow me,' you will say?) This is how to be a woman of the world," said Duterte.

Last week, Duterte made public a matrix supposedly showing personalities involved in the New Bilibid Prison illegal drug trade. Senator De Lima and former Pangasinan governor Amado Espino Jr, now Pangasinan 5th District representative, are the two highest public officials in the matrix. (READ: De Lima denies Duterte drug matrix: 'It's garbage') – Rappler.com </s> Senator of the Philippines, Leila de Lima, was arrested earlier today on charges that she received bribes from convicted drug traffickers, a charge which she has denied, and said is a case of “political persecution.” Ms. de Lima is described as “the leading domestic critic” of President Rodrigo Duterte and his Philippine drug war by the New York Times.

Amnesty International has written a report on 59 “extrajudicial executions” since the war began, entitled “The police’s murderous war on the poor.”

In 2016, a self-reported Duterte assassin appeared before de Lima at a Senate panel headed by the 57-year-old politician. A retired police officer was said to have given a similar account, scant days ago. In early August, Leila de Lima stated “We cannot wage the war against drugs with blood. We will be trading drug addiction with another more malevolent kind of addiction,” in a Senate speech, as reported by the Inquirer.

In September, de Lima, a former chair of the Philippine Commission on Human Rights, was removed from serving as justice secretary and chair of the Philippine Senate, after President Duterte alleged that the she was having a romantic affair with Ronnie Dayan, who was employed as a bodyguard and driver, and that the two were involved in accepting payments from those involved in drug trafficking for protection. Dayan has testified that he “collected money on the senator’s behalf.”

Duterte has referred to de Lima as “immoral” and suggested that she take her own life. A NSFW YouTube video, published in August, shows the Philippine president mimicking the senator.

After remaining in her office, where she has immunity, for a period on Thursday, the senator stated that she intended to say goodbye to members of her family, and indicated that she will likely turn herself in. Police were expected to move to detain her Thursday evening.

“I have no intention to flee or hide,” de Lima was quoted by the Times. “I will face these charges.”

Leila de Lima is reported to have admitted to having an affair with her bodyguard, as reported by GMA News Online. She has continued to profess her innocence with regard to any connection to drug trafficking, as reported by CNN.

Chief legal adviser for Duterte, Salvador Panelo, said that de Lima should welcome the “opportunity to refute any and all the allegations and/or evidence” that will be presented in the proceedings against her. Duterte has said that de Lima needs to “face the music.”

In addition to Ronnie Dayan’s testimony that he accepted payments on behalf of Senator de Lima, prisoners at a facility controlled by her Justice Department, have been “directly linked” to the former secretary. De Lima claims that the prisoners were “pressured” to give testimony against her and that Duterte and his administration have an “‘ax’ to grind with her.”

A raid conducted on the maximum security portion of the New Bilibid Prison, located in Muntinlupa, was conducted under Leila de Lima’s leadership. The result of the operation were revelations of “high-profile” prisoners living “luxurious” lives. The same prisoners are now included in those who have given testimony against her.

The Liberal Party of the Philippines issued a statement calling the issuing of the warrants a “political vendetta” and citing a belief that the charges should have been addressed in an anti-corruption court. The party stated that it is concerned for “Ms. de Lima’s life,” as a result of a Philippine mayor, accused of drug trafficking by Duterte, being slain in his jail cell after police officers reported that the mayor had “pulled a gun” on them during a search. </s> Senator and vocal critic of President Duterte faces drug trafficking charges related to her term as a justice secretary.

A Philippines senator and staunch critic of President Rodrigo Duterte's war on drugs has been arrested by law enforcement agents after charges were filed in court alleging she received money from drug dealers inside the country's prisons.

Senator Leila de Lima is accused of orchestrating a drug trafficking ring when she was justice secretary during the 2010-2015 administration of Benigno Aquino.

"The truth will come out and I will achieve justice. I am innocent," she told reporters shortly before law enforcers escorted her away from her office on Friday.

De Lima, her former driver and bodyguard and a former national prison official were ordered to be arrested by a local court on Thursday after a judge found merit in criminal charges filed by the Department of Justice last week.

De Lima has denied the charges, calling herself a victim of political persecution and saying she has long prepared herself to be the first "political prisoner" under the Duterte administration.

"While the issuance of the warrant of arrest is questionable, I do not have any plans to evade it," she said, calling the order premature as the court has yet to hear the response from her lawyers.

READ MORE: Duterte accused of paying police to kill

She slept in her Senate office overnight then gave herself up to armed officers in flak jackets who put her in a van and drove into morning rush hour traffic apparently towards police headquarters.

Duterte, 71, won a presidential election last year after promising during the campaign to eradicate drugs in society by killing tens of thousands of people.

Since his inauguration on June 30, an anti-drug drive has seen more than 7,000 people killed over suspected drug links - with over 60 percent of the deaths carried out by unknown assassins.

De Lima has previously called for foreign intervention to put an end to the "state-inspired" extrajudicial murders, which she said have been instigated by Duterte since his election to power.

De Lima also led a series of Senate investigations over allegations that police officers were involved in the killings, and that hired killers were operating under orders from police.

De Lima's supporters also insist she is innocent, and that the charges are trumped up to silence one of Duterte's most prominent critics.

In a statement to Al Jazeera, Senator Paolo Aquino condemned the "political persecution" of his fellow opposition Senate member.

"This arrest is purely political vendetta and has no place in justice system that upholds the rule of law. This is condemnable.

"We reiterate that an arrest based on trumped-up charges is illegal," he said citing the "haste" in de Lima's arrest.

De Lima previously claimed she was targeted because of her criticism of Duterte's drug war policy.

During her time as head of the country's human rights body, de Lima also led the investigation into the alleged extrajudicial killings of an estimated 1,000 drug suspects in Davao, while Duterte was mayor of the city.

When Duterte won as president in 2016, his feud with de Lima continued.

At one point he called on her to "hang herself", after he ordered prosecutors to investigate the senator's alleged links to the drug syndicate.

This week, de Lima branded the president a "sociopathic serial killer" after new allegations surfaced accusing Duterte of ordering drug killings in Davao.
Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte calls on critic senator Leila de Lima to resign and "hang herself".