De Lima's piece on Duterte's drug war finds space in The New York Times

Unable to take part in the opening of the 18th Congress or watch President Rodrigo Duterte's State of the Nation Address with her colleagues at Batasan Pambansa or join protest activities in the streets, Senator Leila de Lima was given a venue to express her thoughts about the administration's war on drugs.

De Lima's writings from her detention cell at the Philippine National Police Custodial Center in Quezon City found its way into the opinion page of The New York Times in its July 22, 2019 issue.

The published piece entitled "President Duterte’s War on Drugs Is a Pretense," talked about the brutal campaign against illegal drugs, and how its critics have been vilified and continuously tried to be silenced.

"He is using it to quash the opposition in the Philippines. I should know: I’m one of his victims," De Lima wrote.

De Lima has been in detention since February 2017 following allegations of taking bribes from imprisoned drug traffickers.  She called the charges baseless and fabricated.

In detention, she found solace in reading and issuing handwritten statements about her views on various issues.  She also continued to propose bills and resolutions for the Senate's discussion.

Help for every Filipino

In her opinion piece, De Lima reminded Duterte of his duty for being elected.

"Mr. Duterte was elected very comfortably in 2016, and his approval ratings remain very high. But the people of the Philippines voted him into office so that he would help the everyman and everywoman. They did not vote him into office so that he could repress the legitimate, also elected, opposition and use his brutal drug campaign to cement his grip on power," she said.

De Lima said that while a new Congress convened Monday, the Senate is dominated by the president's allies.

"They now control the super majority needed to push forward problematic polices — including amending the Constitution to grant the executive branch even more powers," she said.

She also lamented how the administration has used a "range of tactics" to "subvert democratic practices," including slashing the budget for the districts of the opposition lawmakers or stripping them of their committee memberships.

Victim

In his first SONA in July 2016, Duterte made a surprise move as he was walking towards the rostrum when he stopped in front of De Lima, shook her hand and just gave her a quick stare.

The following months saw congressional investigations directed at De Lima, charges being filed against her and finally in February 2017, her arrest.

"Take my case. In 2016, shortly after Mr. Duterte’s election, I opened a Senate investigation to look into extrajudicial killings that were being committed under the guise of fighting drug crimes. The president’s retribution was as swift as it was ruthless," De Lima said.

She warned that other opposition figures who opposed the drug war faced similar treatment, including Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno, who was removed from office after she called for due process fro those in the administration's drugs watch list.

"Independent media houses have been bullied with bogus criminal charges; one was effectively pressured into being sold to Duterte allies. The president has publicly threatened human rights activists and others with death — never mind that he or his aides often then downplay his statements as lighthearted banter," she wrote.

"But most worrisome, perhaps, is the administration’s effort to cow what little remains of the formal political opposition, often through politicized criminal cases," De Lima added. —LDF, GMA News