De Lima wins Congress comeback as Mamamayang Liberal gets House seat

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Former senator Leila de Lima, among the fiercest critics of Rodrigo Duterte, is the first nominee of Mamamayang Liberal

MANILA, Philippines – Former senator Leila de Lima is returning to Congress after years of persecution as the Mamamayang Liberal (ML) party-list group won a seat in the House of Representatives.

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Monday, May 19, proclaimed ML as one of the party-list groups set to join the incoming 20th Congress. De Lima is the first nominee of ML, the sectoral wing of the once-ruling Liberal Party.

A total of 54 party-list groups won in the 2025 elections, according to Comelec Chairperson George Garcia. ML ranked 14th with 547,949 or 1.31% of the total votes for the party-list race, based on the national certificate of canvass.

A party-list group must secure at least 2% of the total votes to be guaranteed a seat in Congress. The Commission on Elections, however, may allocate seats to groups that fall below this threshold, in order to fill the 20% quota of party-list representation in the House.

De Lima, a former justice secretary and human rights lawyer, was unjustly detained for nearly seven years under former president Rodrigo Duterte over trumped-up drug charges. She also endured misogynistic congressional hearings and widespread disinformation aimed at undermining her integrity.

De Lima had been among the fiercest critics of Duterte’s violent policies — including his bloody war on drugs — even before he became president. She led investigations into the surge of killings not only as a senator, but earlier in 2009 as chairperson of the Commission on Human Rights (CHR). This earned her the ire of the former Davao City mayor.

After her stint at CHR, De Lima served as justice secretary under then-president Benigno Aquino III. She first ran and won as senator in the 2016 elections, but lost her reelection bid in 2022.

De Lima walked free in November 2023 after courts granted her bail. She was then fully cleared of all drug-related charges by June 2024. A Court of Appeals (CA) division in April 2025, however, voided her acquittal in one drug case, but she will not be detained again.

In September 2024, De Lima said her decision to rejoin politics is a reaffirmation of her commitment.

“Patuloy kong ipaglalaban ang bawat karapatan ng bawat isang Pilipino, lalo na ang karapatang pangtao at hustisya para sa lahat,” she said.

(I will continue to fight for the right of each Filipino, for human rights, and justice for all.)  – Rappler.com