COMMENTS ON THE 6th WEEKLY REPORT OF THE PRESIDENT DATED 4 May 2020
I humbly submit my comments on the President’s 6th Weekly Report dated 4 May 2020, in compliance with Section 5 of Republic Act No. 11469: Has the backlog in aid distribution, even for 4Ps families, become an unsolvable problem? A mere 84,228 4Ps families were added in the latest count making the total at 3,806,111, […]
Dispatch from Crame No. 789: Sen. Leila M. de Lima’s Comments on SOLGEN Calida’s Threat against Issuance of Provisional License to ABS-CBN
SOLGEN Calida’s threat to sue the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) and its commissioners if they will issue provisional authorities to ABS-CBN and its affiliate, ABS-CBN Convergence, Inc., is an absolute violation of his duty as the statutory lawyer of NTC. This would be the second time in which the Office of the Solicitor General under […]
Dispatch from Crame No. 788: Sen. Leila M. de Lima’s Reaction on the treatment of the marginalized sectors in the SAP distribution
Ano nga ba talaga ang kahulugan ng SAP? Social Amelioration Program o baka naman Sobra Ang Pagpapahirap? The cases of Mr. Roy Moral, a PWD with walking ailment forced to personally claim his cash assistance, and Lolo Gualberto Hurtado, an 84-year old man who died of stroke while waiting in line for his aid, mirror […]
Dispatch from Crame No. 787: Sen. Leila M. de Lima on the commendable initiatives in releasing qualified PDLs
Nearly 10,000 persons deprived of liberty (PDLs), pre-conviction or those still awaiting trial or judgment, were ordered released by the Supreme Court within the period of March 17 to April 29, as a measure of decongesting the jails amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. Presumably, this is a result of the SC’s earlier order to lower courts […]
Dispatch from Crame No. 786: Sen. Leila M. de Lima on the Spate of Human Rights Abuses amid ECQ Enforcement
Kinakapos sa essential supplies at equipment para sugpuin ang pagkalat ng COVID-19, pero sa pag-abuso ng karapatang pantao unli ang gobyerno! Huwag n’yong gawing punching bag ng frustration n’yo ang taumbayan dahil pumapalpak kayo. Baka nakakalimutan ninyong dinadanas natin ang kalbaryong ito dahil mismo sa inyo. Kayo ang nagpapasok ng Chinese Communist Party (CCP) virus […]
Dispatch from Crame No.785: Sen. Leila M. de Lima’s statement on the Request of DOLE to Deport Taiwan Caregiver Elanel Egot Ordidor
Gaano ba karupok ang pagkapangulo ni G. Duterte na kailangan patahimikin ang mga kritiko? Bakit naging prayoridad ng ating Labor Attache na pigilan ang malayang pagpapahayag ng opinyon ng isang simpleng caregiver? Ito ay ilan lamang sa aking naging katanungan nung mabalitaan ko na pinapa-deport ng ating Labor Attache sa Taiwan na si G. Fidel […]
Dispatch from Crame No. 784: Sen. Leila M. de Lima on her Exclusion from Participating in Senate Sessions via Teleconferencing
The decision of the Senate leadership to exclude me from participating in Senate sessions via teleconferencing, under amended rules to be adopted, is nothing but a continuation of this administration’s efforts to silence me and prevent me from fully performing my duties as a Senator. Foul and unfair! This is petty politics. SP Sotto’s statement […]
Dispatch from Crame No. 783: Sen. Leila M. de Lima on the Series of Violent Encounters During the Implementation of ECQ
Hindi na ito tama. Hindi na katanggap-tanggap ang mga napapaulat na paglabag sa mga karapatang pantao sa ngalan ng pagpapatupad ng mga ECQ rules. We need to establish better and clearer rules of engagement for the enforcement of community quarantine rules. Our police officers are expected to make situational decisions that they are not properly […]
Dispatch from Crame No. 782: Sen. Leila M. De Lima’s Statement on the Letter of AFP COS to Chinese Ambassador
The letter of the AFP Chief of Staff Gen. Felimon Santos to the Chinese Ambassador asking for a non-FDA approved medicine to give to his friends is wrong in so many levels. First of all, solicitation of personal favors by public officials is a violation of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act. Second, dispensation of […]
Dispatch from Crame No. 781: Sen. Leila M. de Lima’s Quick Reaction to President Duterte’s 27 April 2020 Address
The General Community Quarantine (GCQ) will be our new normal until a vaccine has been made available to the world. Mr. Duterte’s weekly address yesterday (Apr. 27) was rather benign, and more perfunctory than anything else. Like most of us, he appears to be just waiting for the Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) to end. The […]