Sen. Leila De Lima. (File photo by LYN RILLON / Philippine Daily Inquirer)
MANILA, Philippines — Two Christmases into detention, Senator Leila de Lima still has the same Christmas wish for the country — to end the spate of violence, including extra-judicial killings (EJKs).
“The best gift this government can give to the Filipinos is an end to cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatments of its people,” De Lima said in a statement on Wednesday.
“The government should work on preventing more casualties and base its campaign against illegal drugs on human rights and the rule of law,” she added.
De Lima, one of the fiercest critics of President Rodrigo Duterte, is currently detained at the Philippine National Police Custodial Center in Camp Crame for drug-related charges back when she was Justice secretary.
In 2017, she claimed that Duterte’s drug war brought sadness into the Christmas celebrations of many households.
READ: De Lima wishes for ‘old, normal’ life in first Christmas in jail
As for her, De Lima said that she has no requests, after her Christmas gift came early in June with her designation as chair of Senate committee on social justice, welfare, and rural development.
“Aside from considering my chairmanship as an early Christmas present, I also see it as a blessing because it gave me a sense of fulfillment considering that it pushed me to file very meaningful bills and resolutions aimed at improving the plight of the poor,” she explained.
“After all, how can helping the poor, the marginalized and the disadvantaged be meaningless? It is actually good for the soul,” she added. /je