Senator Leila de Lima’s handwritter letter from her detention cell. C/O SEN. DE LIMA’S OFFICE
Now on her 6th day in detention, Senator Leila de Lima is still afraid that something bad might happen to her, saying President Rodrigo Dutere is a “murderer” and “capable” of having her killed even inside prison.
De Lima was arrested and detained at the Philippine National Police Custodial Center last February 24 for alleged involvement on illegal drugs when she was Justice Secretary.
“Each day I am here my life is at risk,” she said in a statement on Thursday.
Even with Duterte’s assurance that she is “100 percent safe” inside her detention, the senator said, she still does not feel secure.
READ: Duterte says De Lima 100% safe at PNP jail
“I can never trust him because he is a murderer and he is capable of having me killed,” De Lima said.
“While I have no complaints about my custodians—they are very professional and courteous—I feel completely defenseless here. Each day I am detained is a day of injustice. What is being done to me is extraordinary,” she added.
Although she said she was “psychologically prepared” to get jailed for criticizing the Duterte government, De Lima said, “her whole being cries for truth and justice.”
READ: De Lima willing to be jailed, but says fight far from over
“My heart also bleeds for other victims of injustice, those who were also falsely accused and now cramped in severely congested jails,” she said in her handwritten letter to her loved ones dated March 1. A copy of it was released to the media this Thursday.
“But God, who is all-knowing and infinitely good and just, will make sure that evil will not triumph. I pray for more strength and fortitude. Let’s all be strong. Love you all…” she added.
In the statement, De Lima said she hoped she would be freed soonest so she could actively participate in the Senate probes on high profile cases, such as the so-called Davao Death Squad, the alleged P50 million bribery/extortion scandal at the Bureau of Immigration, and the so-called “tokhang for ransom.” IDL/rga