On the Awarding Ceremony of Foreign Policy’s
100 Leading Global Thinkers of 2016
December 9, 2016
Thank you very much to Foreign Policy Group for this honor. At this particularly challenging stage in my life, this will serve as an inspiration to keep on going, and to continue fighting the good fight.
I have to admit, however, that while I am deeply humbled to have received this award, I regret the circumstances that have brought me here. I would much rather be working quietly as a Senator—working with the other branches of government to uplift the country. In a way, this award is an unfortunate reminder of how alarming the state of killings in the Philippines is; so much so that the international community has also expressed and continues to express grave concern about it.
Thus, this award serves as more of a challenge and a motivation for me to continue advocating the protection of human rights and upholding social justice in our country.
Thanks to our new President, the Philippines remains in the international spotlight. We have merited global attention not for good governance or our economic growth, but for the spate of extrajudicial killings and summary executions.
The current administration has declared an all-out-campaign against illegal drugs. It is an all-out-elimination of any and all Filipinos suspected of being involved in drugs.
Since the start of its term last July, the Philippine National Police has reportedly accounted for more than 5,800 people who have been killed. As of Dec. 3, there were 2,028 suspected drug offenders who were killed in police operations; 3,841 were victims of extrajudicial or vigilante-style killings as of Nov. 30.
Ladies and gentlemen, this translates to almost 40 people killed each day.
As a lawyer, a former Commission on Human Rights Chair, Justice Secretary, and now Senator, but most importantly, as a Filipino who genuinely cares for her fellow Filipinos, can they truly expect me to be silent on this distressing issue?
It is a daunting challenge for me, and for my fellow human rights advocates to be a fiscalizer of such a government. It is difficult to criticize a popular president who has used the entire force of his powers to create a culture of fear and intimidation, silencing those who will speak up against his crooked, strongman rule.
What makes it worse is that there are politicians and government officials who have made it their duty to spoil the President and defend his every whim to accomplish their personal and political agendas. In the very institution where I belong, an august chamber that is supposed to uphold the rule of law, many echo the President’s pronouncements paving the way towards creating a climate of impunity.
Gaining the ire of the current President may be the worst nightmare of any human rights advocate, because you find yourself facing the entire government arsenal. They were very successful in my case. My life indeed has turned upside down.
It seems that it has become part of the government agenda to fabricate lies against my personality. On the so-called “war on illegal drugs” in our country, truth has become the first casualty.
That is why I also see this award as an instrument to once again call on the rest of the world to bear witness to the inhumanity and disregard of human rights happening in the Philippines. Please join all other Filipinos of good will in remaining vigilant.
On a personal note, I also see this as a redeeming factor of sorts. At least I can assume that when someone looks at my name on the internet, he or she will not just read lies like “Leila de Lima, the Mother of all drug lords in the Philippines,” which is what the President and his men branded me. Netizens will also see “Leila de Lima, a Global Thinkers awardee.”
No matter how vicious and relentless the attacks against me are, I survive. I am here. I don’t know for how much longer since I cannot foresee the end of this ordeal, but it gives me additional strength whenever I am reminded that this is not a battle I fight alone. I fight not just for myself, but also for my countrymen. I fight alongside the millions of Filipinos and human rights advocates; I fight for the truth; I fight for justice. I fight the good fight. I fight with you.
Thank you very much and congratulations to all awardees.