De Lima on Sona: ‘Verbal abuse’ of people

Senator Leila De Lima INQUIRER/ MARIANNE BERMUDEZ

Detained Sen. Leila de Lima flung back at President Rodrigo Duterte his criticism of her credibility and moral values following “that garbage of a speech” he delivered on Monday.

“Let me return the favor and ask Duterte the same question: Do you think you even have the moral values and credible standing, after that garbage of a speech you unloaded before us and the diplomatic corps?” De Lima asked.

She said the people were again “subjected to the verbal abuse and ramblings of a madman” last Monday.

“But this is the true state of the nation — a country ruled by a murderer drunk with power, and 100 million helpless, pitiful subjects unable to escape a nightmare,” De Lima said.

De Lima issued the statement after Mr. Duterte again lashed at her in his second State of the Nation Address (Sona).

The President slammed human rights advocates who recently visited De Lima at Camp Crame in Quezon City and criticized his human rights record.

Mr. Duterte wondered why the advocates would believe De Lima when she was not even credible and was an immoral woman.

De Lima is detained in Camp Crame pending the resolution of the illegal drug trading charges against her.

In her statement, she said she did not care if Mr. Duterte thought she had no credibility because what mattered to her were “the sentiments and opinions of decent and enlightened men and women.”

She said the Chief Executive “must be pissed off” that various international bodies would support her cause and visit her in detention despite efforts to discredit her.

For his part, Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV said only “sycophants and the gullible” would like the Sona that, he said, sounded like a campaign speech.

Among the things Trillanes said the President stated in his Sona was his “ranting about mining yet he allowed the Commission on Appointments to kick out Gina Lopez. Worse, he appointed Gen. (Roy) Cimatu, who was a (Gloria Arroyo) general.”