Citing weak evidence in her drug trafficking case, Senator Leila M. de Lima on Monday asked a Muntinlupa trial court for the third time that she be allowed to post bail.

The lawmaker said, in a 62-page motion,
“it remains unclear” when and how exactly she had conspired to commit drug trafficking.

The testimonies from the prosecution witnesses only pointed that jail convicts had allegedly given money for Ms. de Lima’s senatorial campaign.

Senator de Lima also said the prosecution would want the case to fall under the law against illegal drugs without proving the existence of a single gram of illegal drugs in relation to the case.

Ms. de Lima, President Rodrigo R. Duterte’s known critics, said the testimonies “have questionable probative value and/or are irrelevant, incredible, biased, self-serving and based on hearsay.”

She added, in the four years of trial, the prosecution had only presented five witnesses, Ms. de Lima also said she was not a flight risk.

The senator other concerns was her continued detention makes her unable to attend Senate sessions and other important meetings.

She said, “This is a disservice to the Filipino people who gave her the mandate to represent them in the Senate, especially during these trying times.”

The Senator is on trial for allegedly abetting the illegal drug trade in the country’s jails when she was still Justice secretary. She was accused of extorting millions of pesos from a drug lord that she allegedly used to finance her senatorial campaign in 2016.

Ms. de Lima has been jailed at the Philippine National Police (PNP) Custodial Center in Camp Crame since February 2017. Several witnesses against Ms. de Lima were drug convicts serving time at the national penitentiary in Muntinlupa City.