A mother’s vow: De Lima’s handwritten journal in her cell

Sen. Leila de Lima wrote the following note to mark Mother’s Day from her cell at the Philippine Natonal Police Custodial Center in Camp Crame, Quezon City:

“A huge part of why I am still fighting, why I haven’t given up, is because I want to give back to my children their good name: the vindication of being able to say, one day, that their mother is innocent, that she (had) never received, directly or indirectly, even a single centavo from illegal sources, much less from the illegal drug trade, and the ability to continue holding their heads up high, knowing that their mother was fearless and selfless when she accepted the punishments unfairly inflicted upon her, as the price she was willing to pay for the return of sanity, truth, justice, human rights and the rule of law to our nation.

That is where I draw my strength to keep on going.