Minority senators welcome EU Parliament's call for de Lima's release

Minority Senators on Sunday welcomed the call of the European Parliament to release Senator Leila de Lima from imprisonment.

In a statement on Sunday, Senators Franklin Drilon, Risa Hontiveros-Baraquel, and Francis Pangilinan expressed their gratitude and appreciation for the European Parliament resolution.

"This call by the European Parliament is a welcome addition to the growing body of respected persons and institutions here and abroad who condemn Senator de Lima's arrest and incarceration as baseless and the criminal charges against her as nothing more than politically-motivated fabrications," the statement read.

"The resolution should also remind the current administration that the international community will not turn a blind eye and do nothing towards government's attacks against the fundamental freedoms of Filipinos, and the severe deterioration of the human rights situation in the country during the past four years," it added.

In a resolution dated September 17, the European Union's legislative assembly cited the "seriousness of the human rights violations" in the Philippines in the proposed revocation of the exports tariff exemptions under the Generalized Scheme of Preferences Plus (GSP+).

The EU sounded the alarm over the "deteriorating level of press freedom in the Philippines," and the "politically motivated charges" against de Lima.

The Muntinlupa Regional Trial Court in February 2017 ordered de Lima's detainment at the Philippine National Police Custodial Center inside Camp Crame in Quezon City, for her supposed involvement in the illegal drug trade inside the New Bilibid Prison during her stint as Justice secretary.

"We stand with the European Parliament in urging government to free Senator De Lima and end her continued detention, and to stop extrajudicial killings, human rights abuses and other acts which have victimized and harmed countless Filipinos," the Minority Senators said Sunday.

"As long as Senator De Lima remains languishing in jail under such dubious charges and unjust circumstances, the current administration cannot truly claim that it is promoting justice and upholding the rule of law in the country," they added. — DVM, GMA News