Dispatch from Crame No. 435: Sen Leila M. de Lima’s Statement on the Non-Implementation of RA 10951 and the Imperative Need for Prison Reforms
Just because no one is watching, just because no one is keeping count, doesn’t grant unbridled license to be neglectful of public duties. This is the attitude that we should maintain in government service. Apparently, however, some officials in the current administration display a different mindset. Nagpapabaya sa tungkulin. Papetiks-petiks. Dedma. This is another instance, […]
Dispatch from Crame No. 434: Congratulations Maria Ressa! Salute to “The Guardians!”
There are heroes among us. And though they may not wear capes, they do wield powerful weapons in the form of their words and their endless commitment to truth. And these are the people that Time Magazine chose – very rightly – to honor as Time Magazine’s Person of the Year: a group of people […]
Dispatch from Crame No. 433: Sen. Leila M. de Lima’s Statement on the Claim of Persecution on the part of the Past Administration
Reveling over the acquittal of former Sen. Bong Revilla, sympathetic lawmakers, past and present, including those also charged in other pending PDAF Scam plunder and graft cases, cry political persecution from the previous administration. Sabi pa nga ng isa, pinag-initan lang daw sila ng dating administrasyon. I don’t know what their definition of political persecution […]
Dispatch from Crame No. 432: Sen. Leila M. de Lima’s reaction to the Sandiganbayan’s acquittal of former Sen. Bong Revilla
I could only shake my head in utter disbelief and dismay. Yesterday was a sad moment for truth, justice and accountability. At a time when pork barrel is making a comeback in Congress with the House giving Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s district P2.4 billion, the acquittal of former Sen. Bong Revilla by the Sandiganbayan in the […]
Dispatch from Crame No. 431: Statement of Sen. Leila M. de Lima on Speaker Arroyo’s scandalous Pork Barrel
That former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo allotted P2.4 billion in pork barrel to her district in the 2019 budget comes as no surprise. It is scandalous and shameless, but hardly a surprise. We do not expect anything less from Speaker Arroyo who, during her rule as President, was known for putting self-interest above public service. The […]
Dispatch from Crame No. 430: Opposition Senator Leila M. de Lima’s Statement of Solidarity with Caloocan Bishop Pablo “Ambo” David’s Defy, Resist and Fight.
Two recent articles on Duterte’s attacks on Bishop Pablo Virgilio “Ambo” David, one by his older brother, Prof. Randy David, and the other one by Prof. Tony La Vina, urge us to respond to the attacks by not letting ourselves be defeated by fear and by defending and protecting Bishop Ambo. These are the only […]
Dispatch from Crame No. 429: Opposition Senator Leila M. de Lima’s Statement on Public Attorney’s Office Chief Persida Acosta’s False and Illogical Claim that there are no state-sponsored extrajudicial killings
There is no logic in PAO Chief Persida Acosta’s claim that the conviction of three police officers for the murder of Kian delos Santos proves that there are no extra-judicial killings (EJKs). The conviction of the police officers does not make the more than 23,000 summary executions committed by the police and vigilante death squads […]
Dispatch from Crame No. 428 Sen. Leila M. de Lima: Probe police complicity in EJKs in light of the verdict in Kian delos Santos’ case
The guilty verdict handed down this morning by the Caloocan Regional Trial Court against three (3) police officers involved in the killing of minor Kian delos Santos provides another oasis for justice seekers in an otherwise wasteland of human wrongs. For the thousands of families of victims of EJKs and other crimes of impunity under […]
Dispatch from Crame No. 427: Sen. Leila M. de Lima on the Duterte Death Squad: Another sinister plan
Duterte’s announcement to organize a death squad against the so-called Sparrow Units of the NPA cannot be taken lightly as another joke. It has been taken seriously by Defense Secretary Lorenzana. Together with the issuance of MO 32 deploying additional troops to Samar, Negros, and the Bicol Region, the pronouncement on the death squad assumes […]
Dispatch from Crame No. 426: Sen. Leila M. de Lima on Duterte’s Memorandum Order No. 32
With election campaign season fast approaching, the objective behind the issuance of Memorandum Order No. 32 on the deployment of additional troops to Samar, the Negros Island, and the Bicol Region on account of “lawless violence” is highly suspect. Although the President has the power to call out the AFP in case of lawless violence, […]