MANILA, Philippines — Senator Leila De Lima on Sunday shot back at presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo after he criticized the US Senate panel resolution calling for the senator’s release and for the dropping of the charges against Rappler CEO Maria Ressa.
“Nakakatawa naman ito (this is funny),” De Lima said of Panelo in a statement.
“Mr. Panelo, my case is a test case for your boss’ attempt to flex his tyrannical ambitions,” she added. “The whole world knows that. Malacañang, backed up with its troll army, is a veritable mill of massive disinformation campaigns.”
On Saturday, Panelo said that those who passed the resolution should look into the cases of De Lima and Ressa with “objectivity and cautious discernment.”
READ: Palace to US senators: Look into De Lima, Ressa cases with ‘cautious discernment’
The presidential spokesperson also maintained that the cases filed against the two have nothing to do with their criticism against the current administration.
De Lima has been detained inside the Philippine National Police headquarters in Camp Crame for drug charges since February 2017.
“Wala nang naniniwala sa inyo. Kayo-kayo na lang naglolokohan. (Nobody believes you anymore. You are just kidding yourselves.) We refuse to partake of the poison-infused rhetoric that the President regularly spews,” the opposition senator said.
“Those who are genuinely on the side of truth and justice can never be hoodwinked into believing that we have a fair justice system and a strong vibrant democracy,” she added.