Dispatch from Crame No. 619: Sen. Leila M. de Lima’s call for unity and vigilance on the impending ruling from the Presidential Electoral Tribunal
Let’s protect VP Leni and the sanctity of our votes. The injustices and impunity happening in our midst for the last 3 years must not be compounded by an injustice inflicted upon our sovereign will. Let’s pray for a just and judicious ruling from the Presidential Electoral Tribunal. ###
Dispatch from Crame No. 618 – Sen. Leila M. de Lima’s Sunday Message to her supporters
Reject authoritarianism and demagoguery! Uphold democracy and decency! Endure. Persevere. Prevail we shall! In God, we commend our woes. In God, we trust. A blessed Sunday! ###
Dispatch from Crame No. 617: Sen. Leila M. de Lima’s Statement regarding the Duterte regime’s aborted plan of constructing a state-of-the-art facility that could address severe jail congestion
I’ve repeatedly said that severe congestion is the root cause of the many ills besetting the New Bilibid Prison, including prison-based criminality, corruption, disease and deaths. That is why the PNoy administration earnestly worked on a plan to transfer the NBP and the Correctional Institution for Women (CIW) to the Fort Magsaysay Military Reservation in […]
Dispatch from Crame No. 616: Sen. Leila M. de Lima’s Statement on Senate’s contempt citations vs lying witnesses during the Senate investigation into BuCor anomalies
Good to know that the Senate, acting firmly, has cited for contempt the likes of BuCor officials Benilda Bansil and Veronica Buño for lying in the proceedings before the Justice and Human Rights Committee, jointly with other Committees. They should have similarly dealt with Rafael Ragos and Jovencio Ablen for their own lies, as a […]
Dispatch from Crame No. 615: Sen. Leila M. de Lima’s Statement on DFA Secretary Teddy Boy Locsin’s remarks that she cannot be acquitted on request of U.S. Congress
DFA Secretary Teddy Boy Locsin asserts, quite correctly, that I cannot be acquitted on mere request of the U.S. Congress. We know that, of course. But these US Senators who proposed a visa ban against my oppressors are not in any way imposing their will on our local courts. Their courageous championing of my causes […]
Dispatch from Crame No. 614: Sen. Leila M. de Lima’s statement on PDEA Chief Aaron Aquino’s turn-around on his previous testimony re: PNP Chief Albayalde’s statement to him about the latter’s men involved in the ‘agaw bato’ scheme
Moral lesson from PDEA Chief Aaron Aquino’s flip-flopping on the factual issue of what exactly P/DG Oscar Albayalde told him when he asked about his (Albayalde’s) men involved in the 2013 drug buy bust: One cannot and should not be wavering, if he or she has or knows the truth. Truth cannot have two contrasting […]
Dispatch from Crame No. 613: Sen. Leila M. de Lima’s statement on the looming decision of the Presidential Electoral Tribunal (PET) in the Marcos vs. Robredo protest case
The PET case, especially in this age of automated elections, is mostly a matter of correct arithmetic. There is little room for changes in the original proclamation results via an appreciation of the ballots. It is either the ballot reflects the intent of the voter and was correctly counted, or for some reason the machine […]
Dispatch from Crame No. 612: Sen. Leila M. de Lima’s Statement on Mr. Panelo’s personal attacks vs US Senator Patrick Leahy
Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo calls US Senator Patrick Leahy “ignorant” about the circumstances surrounding my arrest and detention. Before Panelo – the lawyer of choice of the most high-profile of criminals like Mayor Sanchez and the Ampatuans – starts calling US Senators ignorant, he should first sit back and take stock from were US Senators […]
Dispatch from Crame No. 611: Sen. Leila M. de Lima’s Statement on Ambassador Romualdez’s Defense of the Duterte Regime’s Persecution against her
Lest the American public believe Ambassador Romualdez on the supposed legality of my political persecution by the Duterte government, I am compelled, with due respect to the Ambassador, to challenge his version of the story he is peddling in the United States. It is understandable, of course, that he is simply mouthing the propaganda line […]
Dispatch from Crame No. 610: Sen. Leila M. de Lima on the PH’s Unconscionable and Immoral NO Vote on the Rohingya Issue
While the rest of the world moves in unison to the succor of the brutalized Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar, the Philippine government has chosen to be a human rights pariah, alongside her big brother China. No less than 37 member states at the 42nd session of the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) this month have […]