Palace: De Lima’s confinement has dulled her senses

MANILA, Philippines – Senator Leila De Lima’s detention “has dulled her senses.”

Malacañang said this on Tuesday after the opposition senator claimed that President Rodrigo Duterte is just “mighty in words, but inept in action” regarding dealing with terrorism.

READ: Duterte’s threats ‘nothing but empty words to real terrorists’ — De Lima

De Lima issued the statement in the wake of the recent bombings in Mindanao.

“The detained Senator Leila de Lima is talking nonsense. Her confinement has dulled her senses,” Presidential Spokesman Salvador Panelo said in a statement.

Panelo said De Lima, who has been detained for drug-related charges, is forgetting that President Duterte is the same President “who crushed the dreaded and ruthless ISIS and their local counterparts in the Marawi siege.”

“This is also the same President who has declared war on drugs, criminality and corruption and gained headway in all those fronts by his swift action and enforcement of the law, without fear or favor,” he added.

The Palace official noted that instead of offering her sympathies and support, De Lima “opted to be indifferent if not callous” to the military.

“De Lima is blaming the intelligence community and questioning how the intelligence fund was being spent,” Panelo said.

“The fact that the soldiers were not able to detect the terrorists who disguised themselves as churchgoers is no reason for this criminally accused legislator to be so insensitive as to blame them for the tragedy,” he added.

Panelo also slammed the detained senator as an “irrelevant political entity” trying to re-enter the public’s consciousness “by dishing out reckless and offensive rants against the President reducing herself into a pathetic figure and a pitiful caricature.”

“She is better off indulging herself in meditation and prayers so the goodness in her heart comes out in full bloom instead of seeing only the dark side in her dungeon,” Panelo said.  /muf/ac