Borrowing a phrase from his martyred father, former President Benigno Aquino III reminded detained senator Senator Leila de Lima that she is not alone in her fight in her battles.
“Makikita naman natin: Si Leila, klarong-klarong may prinsipyo. Sa pinagdadaanan niya, malinaw na tayo ang kaniyang ipinaglalaban. Mainam namang maipadama natin kay Leila na sa labang ito, hindi siya nag-iisa,” Aquino said as part of his message to De Lima in her first electronic book “Dispatches from Crame I.”
Aquino also lauded De Lima as a “woman of principle.”
The former president also took a swipe against the Duterte administration, as he said that he was taught that a good leader has “clear convictions” and directions, and that a leader of who dilly-dallies is not good.
“Nung lumalaki ako, binigyang-diin sa akin na, ang pinuno dapat may klarong paninindigan. May direksyong patutunguhan. Kaya madali at buo natin siyang masusundan. Mahirap magkaroon ng pinuno na ang posisyon ay papalit-palit sa magkabilang-dulo,” he said.
But President Rodrigo Duterte’s spokesperson Harry Roque took exception to Aquino’s message.
“With all due respect to the former President, Senator Leila de Lima is not fighting for her principle and was not detained because of her political beliefs.
Roque said the lady senator was arrested and incarcerated because of serious drug charges where she was accused of allowing the illegal drug trade to proliferate inside the New Bilibid Prison when she was the DoJ secretary.
De Lima, a fierce critic of the was arrested in February 2017 on drug charges that she has denied and branded as “political persecution.”
De Lima launched her book last month in time for her first year in jail. The book contains over 100 handwritten letters released during her incarceration. The notes include personal musings, comments on her court cases, and statements on state affairs.
Even while in jail, De Lima has continued criticizing President Duterte and senior government officials over the administration’s policies, especially its war on drugs, and the country’s warm relations with China despite the latter’s continued aggressive acts in the South China Sea.
Aside from the former president, several political figures and former officials of the Aquino administration also praised De Lima and encouraged her to continue her crusade against the present government.
“Despite the trumped-up charges and a system undermined by fascism and fear, Leila has stood as a beacon of light and a tower of fortitude to those who seemed to have lost hope in this present darkness," former presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda said.
Lacierda’s deputy, Abigail Valte said that “Senator De Lima is true courage exemplified: Continuing to speak the bitter truth to power, despite being unjustly deprived of her liberty.”
Phelim Kine, Deputy Asia Director of Human Rights Watch, meanwhile, said De Lima’s detention has not prevented her “fearless advocacy for rule of law and human rights” from inspiring the local and international communities alike.
“Her voice echoes far beyond her prison walls and is an inspiration to those both in the Philippines and beyond who seek accountability for the thousands of deaths linked to the Duterte government’s murderous war on drugs,” Kine said.
Dr. Sylvia “Guy” Claudio, a doctor of medicine who also holds a PhD in Psychology, described De Lima’s writings were “dangerous because if you dare to read through the pages, you may find that the Senator is no monster. That she is a human being with equal nationalism, equal love for the poor, equal rights to fairness and justice. You may realize that she is not the monster they have painted.”
“In which case, she may be innocent as she explains so eloquently here, as she has always proclaimed herself to be. At the very least, you may agree with her as all human rights institutions, foreign and local, have agreed so far, that her rights are being violated. The choice is yours,” she added.
Claudio wrote her message in the book’s foreword.
De Lima and her supporters had said that the charges were made by Duterte to intimidate any opposition to his actions fighting drug crime in the country.
De Lima faces three drug-related charges, including one that states she received money from drug dealers in the country’s prisons of approximately P5 million between 2010-2016.
Duterte has alleged that De Lima was running a drug trafficking ring in the country's largest prison in August 2016 while she was justice secretary in the previous government.
Prosecutors said the former senator had conspired with high-profile inmates to sell or trade illegal drugs inside the national penitentiary during her term as justice chief allegedly in exchange for millions of pesos supposedly for her senatorial campaign.
De Lima denied the allegation.