Why Leila de Lima is No. 1 in my Senate vote

On Feb. 24, Leila de Lima, senator of the Republic of the Philippines, will be marking her fifth year in detention. That’s 1,826 days she has spent incarcerated. Picture what that means, Reader: In her quarters, she is virtually in isolation. What does that mean?

Daily, during the workweek, twice a day, one hour each, her Senate staff is allowed to bring papers and exchange written notes—no conversation is allowed. She reads the papers, gives her answers or notes in writing. Why such restrictions?

She is allowed visitors on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays, for one hour each. Those visitors must be either immediate family, or priest, or doctor, or lawyer. Last November, Sen. Kiko Pangilinan was not allowed to visit, and neither was Nobel Laureate Maria Ressa the next month. And the visitor’s area is surveilled (camera and all). No privacy. Why such restrictions?

It’s worse than that. She is literally cut off from the world—she is allowed no computer, no internet, no cell phone, or any other electronic devices to communicate with others. She is allowed to watch TV only once a week, on Saturday afternoons, from 1-4. Why such restrictions?

You may also recall, Reader, that Congress has for a long while now been holding hearings and meetings during which its members attend by Zoom. One would have thought therefore that De Lima would be allowed to do so from her prison cell. Apparently, Sen. Risa Hontiveros and others wanted her to be so allowed, but Senate President Tito Sotto (who has claimed to be completely independent of the executive) did a Pontius Pilate, and left it to the courts to decide. Naturally, the courts declined their permission. WHY? What harm would be caused the State to have De Lima participate from her jail cell, for heaven’s sake? Think of the good it would have done, what contributions she could have made in those Senate investigations on PhilHealth and Pharmally, for example. She was not a bar topnotcher, a Commission on Human Rights chair, and a secretary of justice, for nothing.

The extent of how ridiculous the rules of her isolation are—to Zoom her sick mother in the province, she had to ask the courts. She got permission—for a few minutes. Good grief, who do they think they are dealing with?

And to think because of the COVID-19 lockdown and the “isolation,” so many people have mental health problems, despite their access to the outside world. If De Lima were not made of stronger stuff, she would have suffered a nervous breakdown by now—which I think is the objective of those who have put her in this position.

As if that were not enough, her living conditions are miserable. As I recall, they consist of a small room divided into sleeping space and living-working space but with no airconditioning. Her bathroom is so tiny that her shower is almost on top of the toilet.

She has endured 1,826 days of this, and counting. Despite these limitations she has been able to file over 600 bills and resolutions in the Senate, among which are the institutionalization of the 4Ps and the Magna Carta for the Poor, an act to establish a National Commission for Senior Citizens. Imagine what she would have done, unfettered.

So what did she do to deserve all these persecution and prosecution? She was a newly elected senator, barely nine months in office, when she was incarcerated.

Here is an interesting aside: De Lima received 31 percent of the vote, with 14.1 million Filipinos voting for her. In the same elections, President Duterte received 39 percent of the vote, with 16.6 million votes. Campaign expenditures of Mr. Duterte amounted to P375 million, 97 percent of which, according to PCIJ, came from 31 donors (a lot with one-syllable surnames). Campaign expenditures of De Lima were P86.2 million (the least expenditures of a winning candidate), from 114 donors.

I bring Mr. Duterte into this because he was responsible for all this with a complicit judiciary. Why? She had the temerity to question him about the Davao Death Squads while she was human rights chair. She must have showed him up—she wasn’t a bar topnotcher for nothing. And misogynist that he is, he cannot forgive her. He has to have his revenge, no matter what lies and black propaganda it takes. For shame. That is why Leila de Lima is No. 1 in my Senate vote.

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