MANILA, Philippines—Detained opposition Senator Leila De Lima on Saturday slammed Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra for branding as “trash and non-existent” a US Senate panel resolution urging the Philippine government to drop the charges against her.
“That is easy to say for someone not in prison, and who is responsible for the continuation of injustice that is my incarceration based on fabricated charges,” De Lima, who is facing drug-related charges, said in a statement.
De Lima, a former justice secretary herself, refuted Guevarra who claimed that US Senate Res. 142 violates Philippine laws.
“No, it does not,” she stressed. “It is merely like any domestic or international call for my release.
“It just so happened that in the case of the US Senate, the call is backed up with serious potential sanctions that will hurt my persecutors, including Guevarra himself. Hence, it has the punch that Guevarra and other in the Duterte officialdom fear.”
The US Senate resolution, which was recently approved by the US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, called on the Philippine government to “drop all charges” against De Lima and Rappler CEO Maria Ressa, and allow the opposition senator to fully discharge her legislative mandate.
US Senate panel OKs resolution: Free De Lima, drop charges vs Maria Ressa
It also called on US President Donald Trump to “impose sanctions” against security forces and officials responsible for De Lima’s arrest, which include revoking their US visas and freezing their assets.
De Lima, a staunch critic of President Duterte, has been in detention at the Philippine National Police Custodial Center since Feb. 24, 2017 on charges that she was involved in the illegal drug trade.
She has denied the charges, saying they were fabricated in retaliation for her fierce criticism of Duterte’s brutal war on drugs and monitoring of his human rights record since the time she headed the Commission on Human Rights in 2008.
Meanwhile, Ressa and Rappler, known for its critical reportage on the Duterte administration, are facing several cases including libel and tax-related charges.
De Lima also assailed Guevarra for allegedly discarding the rule of law when he allowed convicts to stand as state witnesses against her.
“Sec. Guevarra, hindi lang ang US S. Res 142 ang ibinasura mo. Ang pinaka-una mong ibinasura ay ang pananaig ng batas at hustisya sa Pilipinas, mula noong nagsuot ka na ng mga tapalodo sa mata para hindi mo mapansin ang kahindik-hindik na paglapastangan sa batas na ginagawa ni Duterte.
(Sec. Guevarra, you didn’t just discard US S. Res 142. The first thing you junked is the rule of law and justice in the Philippines, ever since you covered your eyes so that you would not notice Duterte’s grave defamation of law.)
“May oras din na matatapos ang rehimeng ito. At pagdating ng panahon na iyon, kayo ang ibabasura ng kasaysayan.”
(This regime will eventually end too. And when that time comes, history will discard you.)