De Lima spox: Ressa tried to visit detained senator after Nobel win

Veteran journalist and Rappler CEO Maria Ressa tried to visit detained Senator Leila De Lima before leaving for Oslo to accept the Nobel Peace Prize but was not allowed to do so, the senator’s camp said on Sunday.

“Bago siya pumunta sa Oslo, sinubukan ni Maria Ressa bumisita kay Senator Leila De Lima dahil as a Nobel Peace Laureate, sabi niya, isa si Senator Leila De Lima sa nagpapakinang ng ating demokrasya, na mayroon pa ring hope dito sa ating democracy,” said lawyer Dino de Leon, De Lima’s representative and spokesperson, on Vice President Leni Robredo's weekly radio program.

(Maria Ressa tried to visit Senator Leila De Lima before she went to Oslo because, she said, De Lima is one the people making democracy shine, showing that there is still hope for our democracy.)

“Sinubukan niyang bisitahin pagkatapos niya manalo. Hindi siya pinayagan. Nakakalungkot,” he added.

(She tried to visit after she won, but she was not allowed to do so. It was saddening.)

Ressa, the first Filipino Nobel laureate, shared the prize with Russian investigative journalist Dmitry Muratov, for their “efforts to safeguard freedom of expression."

The two investigative journalists, facing pressure from authorities in their respective countries, received the prestigious award on Friday at a small ceremony at Oslo's City Hall.

Ressa specifically mentioned De Lima during her Nobel Laureate speech, noting that there have been “costs” for those who help keep journalists safer and working in the country.

“In the Philippines, more lawyers have been killed—at least 63 compared to the 22 journalists murdered after President Rodrigo Duterte took office in 2016. Since then, Karapatan, a member of our #CourageON human rights coalition, has had 16 people killed, and Senator Leila De Lima, because she demanded accountability, is serving her fifth year in jail,” Ressa said.

De Leon said that the government should support and be proud of Ressa, recalling that the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) earlier asked the Court of Appeals (CA) to deny her request to travel to Norway to receive the award.

“In fact, you know, kaya siguro ayaw nila, it’s because it’s this government that enabled her to receive the Peace Prize dahil sa kanilang oppression at nilabanan, ‘no. At mayroong mga taong katulad niya na patuloy na lalaban, katulad din ni Senator Leila De Lima,” he said.

(Maybe the reason they don’t want to is because it’s this government that enabled her to receive the Peace Prize because of their oppression and it was fought by Ressa. There are people who are like her who continuously fight, just like De Lima.)

De Lima, a former Justice secretary and a staunch critic of the Duterte administration, has been detained since February 2017 at the Philippine National Police Custodial Center in Camp Crame due to drug-related charges.

A drug case against her was junked by a Muntinlupa City court in February of this year. She has repeatedly denied involvement in the illegal drug trade.

De Lima is seeking reelection in the May 2022 national elections. She said that she wants to restore justice in the next administration, noting that her detention made her even stronger.

De Leon said that her campaign will heavily rely on volunteers.

“We have no other recourse but to rely on volunteers—well-meaning people who would want to see change in our country. Hindi na pwede ‘yung status quo eh, ‘yung kasalukuyan na parang ang daming abuses, garapalan ‘yung pagnanakaw, garapalan ‘yung incompetence,” he said.

(The status quo is no longer acceptable—like what we have now that has a lot of abuses, and the theft and incompetence are blatant.) — BM, GMA News