Senator Leila De Lima
INQUIRER/ MARIANNE BERMUDEZ
Saying the nation is “plunged into a crisis of democracy,” Senator Leila de Lima on Friday urged the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) to have a “united stand” and continue fighting for the welfare and rights of the people.
De Lima was former Justice Secretary and chair of the CHR.
“Indeed, the CHR is facing its toughest challenge as our nation is plunged into a crisis—a crisis of democracy where citizens are silenced amid the prevalence of flagrant violations of our fundamental rights; where lies and rumors are fabricated to poison our minds by some forces in our State for the sake of their political and personal agendas,” she said in a statement on the 30th anniversary of the Commission.
“Now more than ever, the CHR needs to have a united stand in fighting this crisis, to continue fighting for the welfare and rights of our people, especially the marginalized who are often the victims of injustice in our society,” said the senator.
For 30 years, De Lima said, the CHR had played a vital role in making the country’s democracy “very vibrant and robust.”
“It has served countless Filipinos through its programs and services, providing appropriate legal measures for the protection of human rights of our countrymen,” she said.
“It is in this institution where I learned the value of human life and human dignity, regardless of one’s status.”
When she was the CHR chair, De Lima conducted the inquiry on the so-called Davao Death Squad (DDS) linked to the spate of killings in Davao City, a “chilling policy” that she said has now spread throughout the country.
A neophyte senator, she also initiated a Senate probe on alleged extrajudicial killings in the country where some witnesses linked President Rodrigo Duterte to the death squad when he was still mayor of Davao City.
De Lima also noted it was through the efforts of the CHR that a “secret cell” was recently discovered at a Manila police station where a dozen of drug suspects had been detained without charges.
READ: Drug suspects found in secret police cell
The discovery of the said secret detention cell, she said, was a “clear proof of the alarming situation of our jails and the excesses of our law enforcers under the Duterte regime.”
She said her prior experience in the CHR also gave her a clear picture of what more needs to be done for the institution in order to effectively fulfill its mandate.
This was why, she said, she filed Senate Bill No. 1230 or an Act to Strengthen the Commission on Human Rights of the Philippines as the National Human Rights Institution, which seeks to give the Commission its own charter, thereby, reinforcing its powers and functions.
“Let us continue to showcase CHR’s exemplary work as defenders of human rights in the country now and in the generations to come,” De Lima added.
The senator has been detained at the Philippine National Police Custodial Center over drug charges. JE/rga