Senator Leila de Lima on Tuesday called on the people to make President Rodrigo Duterte, whom she branded as the “Number 1 criminal” in the country, accountable for the deaths of suspected criminals in Davao City when he was mayor, and the killings of more than 7,000 others since he assumed office in Malacañang.
“Sa paglantad ni Lascañas, wala na pong natitirang duda na ang atin pong Pangulo ay isang mamatay tao at sociopathic serial killer,” De Lima said at a press conference in the Senate.
(With the revelations of Lascañas, there are no more doubts that our president is a murderer and sociopathic serial killer.)
Retired SPO3 Arturo Lascañas is a confessed Davao Death Squad leader who accused Duterte of ordering the group to kill criminals in Davao City when he was still its mayor.
READ: Davao cop says Duterte ordered killings, DDS real
“Ito na rin po ang dahilan kung bakit natin nararanasan ang lahat ng kahibangan sa gobyerno sa ilalim ng rehimeng ito na pinagungunahan ng numero unong kriminal sa buong Pilipinas, kung hindi man sa buong mundo, walang iba kung hindi si Pangulong Rodrigo Roa Duterte,” the senator said.
(This is also the reason why we are experiencing all these madness in this regime led by the number one criminal in the Philippines if not the entire world, President Rodrigo Roa Duterte.)
READ: Duterte a ‘self-confessed serial killer’ — De Lima
De Lima shared Senator Risa Hontiveros’s statement that there seemed to be a “reunion of questionable characters” under the Duterte administration, citing its alliances with the Marcoses , former President and now Pampanga Representative Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and alleged pork scam mastermind, Janet Lim-Napoles.
“Huwag na tayong magtanong kung bakit sa panahon ni Duterte naglabasan at namayagpag ang lahat kriminal, corrupt , halang ang bituka at maiitim ang mga kaluluwa. May reunion ng mga kriminal sa gobyernong ito dahil ang pinaka-kriminal sa kanila ngayon ang Pangulo ng bansa,” she said.
(Let’s no longer be surprised why in Duterte’s administration, the criminals, the corrupt, and the evil have come out. There is a reunion of criminals in this government because the country’s President is the biggest criminal of all.)
De Lima said it was lamentable that until now, the President has not been made accountable even for a single death in Davao City allegedly under his orders when he was still mayor and the alleged killings of over 7,000 people in the country since he assumed office in Malacañang.
“Pero ngayon ay baka maaari na s’yang panagutin sa kanyang mga karumal-dumal na mga krimen (Maybe now, he will be made to answer his gruesome crimes),” De Lima said.
The senator then called on the people to act and make a “murderer” President accountable.
She made a similar call even to perceived allies of the President like the Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption (VACC) that filed a case against her, and to members of the Cabinet.
“Sa Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption o VACC na nagsampa sa akin ng kasong kriminal: kailan ninyo isasampa ang pinakamalaking kasong kriminal sa kasaysayan ng ating bansa, kung saan libo-libo ang iniutos na ipapatay ni Ginoong Duterte bilang Mayor ng Davao at Pangulo ng Pilipinas?” De Lima asked.
(To the VACC which filed a criminal case against me: When will you file the biggest criminal case in our country where in thousands were ordered to be killed by Mr. Duterte when he was still mayor of Davao City and now that he is President of the Philippines?)
“Huwag sanang maging balakid sa pagharap ninyo sa hamong ito ang may pinipiling pagkakaso at pag-aabogado sa inyo ng abogado ng mga drug lords ng Bilibid at ni Ginang Arroyo na si Atty. Topacio,” she added.
(I hope you do not let the lawyer of Bilibid drug lords and Mrs. Arroyo, Atty. (Ferdinand) Topacio, hinder you from facing this challenge.)
She said the President’s Cabinet, on the other hand, may declare him unfit to perform his duty.
The former Justice secretary also posed this question to the Integrated Bar of the Philippines and to all lawyers, in general.
“Sa harap ng pinakamalaking kaso ng pagyurak sa batas at paglapastangan sa katarungan, kailan ba natin haharapin ang hamong ito bilang mga tagapagtanggol ng katuwiran at katotohanan?”
(In the face of the biggest crime of infringing the laws and violating justice, when will we face this challenge as defenders of reason and truth?)
And to other government agencies, including the police and the armed forces, De Lima said the challenge is for them to stay loyal to the people despite what she described as loss of moral ascendancy of the present administration to lead the country.IDL/rga