Supporters of detained Sen. Leila de Lima launched the Committee for the Freedom of Leila M. de Lima at the Club Filipino in San Juan on Monday, Aug. 26, 2019. From left: Sen. Risa Hontiveros, former Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV, former Secretary Teresita “Ging” Deles, Professor Antonio La Viña of the Ateneo School of Government, and Vicente de Lima II, brother of the senator. (Photo by GABRIEL PABICO LALU / INQUIRER.net)
MANILA, Philippines – Sen. Leila de Lima, after over two years in jail on drug charges, finally got concrete support from her colleagues in the Senate in the form of a resolution they signed pushing for authorities to let her take part in legislative affairs.
But why did it take over two years for them to act?
Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV, who suffered the same fate as De Lima during the administration of former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, shared on Monday his idea why it took so long.
“The political environment back then was such that there was very fanatical in favor of [President Rodrigo] Duterte,” he said, speaking partly in Filipino, at a press conference at Club Filipino in San Juan. “These really admired Duterte.”
So has the environment changed?
“We believe so,” he said. “We feel so.”
“What’s different now is the political environment,” he added.
According to him, people have become more critical of the President — despite the recent elections in May when not a single opposition senatorial candidate landed a seat in the Senate.
Trillanes, one of the President’s staunchest critics, said that he also believed that the administration had tinkered with survey results to give the chief executive high approval and trust ratings.
Sen. Leila de Lima (Photo from her Facebook page)
Before his 4th State of the Nation Address, the President’s approval and trust rating scores were both 85 in the Pulse Asia survey and his net satisfaction rating was 68 in the Social Weather Stations survey.
“Do you think it is unthinkable or out of character for Mr. Duterte to tinker with the surveys?” Trillanes said. “Is there anything off-limits to him as far as morals are concerned? Nothing is off-limits for Mr. Duterte.”
READ: Duterte’s rating reaches new record-high in Q2 2019 – SWS
READ: Pulse: Duterte remains most trusted government official
Also present at the conference to show their support for De Lima were former Sen. Rene Saguisag; Sen. Risa Hontiveros; former Secretary Teresita “Ging” Deles, who was the presidential peace process adviser; and Professor Antonio La Viña of the Ateneo School of Government.
They were essentially backing Senate Resolution No. 51, which was filed by Senators Franklin Drilon and Panfilo Lacson. If approved, the resolution would allow De Lima to join Senate hearings and discussions through teleconferencing or live video streaming.
READ: Group that includes ‘Noy asks Duterte to let De Lima fully discharge duties as senator
A little late
Meanwhile, Deles admitted that the efforts to support De Lima, another staunch critic of the President, had been long delayed.
“I agree, it’s too late. We should have done it yesterday. We should have done it the day after she was arrested,” Deles said.
De Lima, who is facing charges for allegedly allowing the drug trade inside the New Bilibid Prison to proliferate while she was still Justice secretary, has been detained for since February 2017, or exactly 913 days.
She claims that her detention is merely part of the President’s political vendetta for the probe she initiated in Senate into the extrajudicial killings committed since the time the President was still Davao City mayor.
De Lima will celebrate her 60th birthday Tuesday, Aug. 27 — the third time she will do so inside the Philippine National Police (PNP) Custodial Center in Camp Crame.
READ: Palace: De Lima arrested for criminal, not political, case
READ: Leila De Lima finally arraigned 17 months since arrest
READ: De Lima hopeful gov’t would realize ‘dishonor’ in arresting her
Trillanes clarified that there had been efforts starting from the beginning to raise awareness about De Lima’s situation.
“When she was detained, there were many efforts by the minority senators — through a resolution, privilege speeches, public statements, and a variety of others,” Trillanes said.
On the other hand, La Viña said: “This is just an idea that came about two months ago. I don’t know if anyone has thought about it before but when we started meeting, what we asked is: What else can we do that we haven’t done?”
According to Deles, this is also the mandate of the committee — to check on other possible ways to increase the exposure of De Lima’s case to get her out of detention.
“I’ve set up a committee dedicated… Of course, there are so many causes that we need to fight for. But there will be this committee that will look into and use all methods to bring the story of Senator Leila out,” Deles said.
“So that there will be pressure on the President… And if he would not listen, the judgment will be on him,” she added.
/atm