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Philippines

We Spoke to Philippine President Duterte's Most Prominent Critic Before He Jailed Her

VICE News meets with Senator de Lima in the Philippines where, despite facing death threats, she continues to vocally oppose Duterte’s war on drugs.

Filipino Senator Leila de Lima, a vocal critic of Philippine's President Rodrigo Duterte, has been arrested. She faces allegations of taking bribes amounting to the equivalent of $100,000 from drug lords during her tenure as Justice Secretary. De Lima denies the charges and believes they are aimed to deter critics of President Duterte's through intimidation. President Duterte has also publicly told de Lima to hang herself.

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Until recently, de Lima has been spearheading an investigation into the rampant extrajudicial killings resulting from Duterte's war on drugs. In August, de Lima led a senate committee investigation where a former hitman testified. The hitman, Edgar Matobato, stated that he had been hired to kill alleged criminals and opponents when Duterte was mayor. Four days later, de Lima was stripped of her chairmanship of the Senate's Justice and Human Rights Committee.

VICE News Correspondent Gianna Toboni meets with Senator de Lima in the Philippines where, despite facing death threats, she continues to be one of the only politicians to vocally oppose Duterte's war on drugs that has left more than 7000 dead. "They say they are going to destroy me within the year. So I tell them, if I have to go down, I have to go down fighting"