Opposition Senator Leila M. de Lima called on her fellow Liberal Party (LP) members to exert concerted effort to restore the country’s democracy and decency in government by making sure that the voice of the opposition is heard in the 2022 national elections.
In her message during the Liberal Party’s National Executive Council (NECO) meeting last Sept. 28, De Lima said she believes that she and her fellow liberals are up to the challenge to ensure a better future for all Filipinos being “guardians of our democracy and the civil rights of our people.”
“The 2022 elections are a most compelling golden opportunity for us to turn the situation around, reclaim our bearing as a people, and finally chart a better and brighter collective destiny that is free from the shadows of 1972 and 2016,” she said.
“In 2022, we can write a hopeful chapter in our nation’s history. Let’s do all we can to ensure that it will be a history for and by the people, and not for and by the kin of the dictators,” she added.
The Liberal Party nominated De Lima, along with Senators Francis Pangilinan and Risa Hontiveros, former Senator Bam Aquino IV and human rights lawyer Dean Chel Diokno as its official candidates for Senator in 2022 elections.
De Lima confirmed in an indictment letter addressed to Mr. Duterte last July 26 that she would seek reelection in the 2022 national elections, saying that her unjust detention only pushed her to work harder to fight against injustice and defend human rights at all cost.
“Marami ang nakataya sa 2022, hindi lamang ang ekonomiya, kabuhayan, hustisya, teritoryo, kundi buhay at karapatang pantao ng mga Pilipino at ang hinaharap ng ating bansa bilang isang demokrasya. At sa akin pa nga, may mga personal na nakataya: ang aking paglaya at mga adbokasiya,” she said.
“So, let’s all fight the good fight. Let’s run the race and keep the faith. Let’s win it. Para sa bayan, para sa ating mga anak, para sa hustisya: Laban lang!,” she added. (30)