“From My Desk”, part 1 of the book “Fight for Freedom,” is a collection of four writings by Senator De Lima during her incarceration for drug charges.
“We ar Stormbreakers” is the author’s acceptance speech during the awarding ceremony of the Liberal International Prize for Freedom given on July 28, 2018. The speech was delivered on her behalf by her brother, Vicente de Lima. Addressing the audience, De Lima recognizes the influence on her by people who shaped her values as a person and human rights advocate. First, freedom fighters who laid the foundations for a humane and just society. She said that while she may have been the most vocal and one of the first to raise the alarm against the spate of extrajudicial killings, she is, however, grateful that she does not stand alone as many laid the foundation long before her. In her words, “As bleak as it may seem now, we know that it could worse, and in fact, generations of human beings before us did, indeed suffer, worse fates.” But out of those ashes this new world was rebuilt. Made stronger by the simple fact that it is more humane and therefore more conscious of the dignity, and value of human life.
Secondly, she acknowledges the influence of her father, Comelec Commissioner Vicente de Lima, who cautioned her to always do what is right and justifiable.
Thirdly, she expresses her gratitude to three Filipino Presidents, namely: President Corazon C. Aquino, for exemplifying grace, strength, wisdom and courage in the face of various adversities, including personal tragedies; President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo who appointed her chairman of the Commission on Human Rights; and finally, President Noynoy Aquino with whom she spent five of her most fulfilling years as a public servant.
In “Lessons from Prison: How Political Persecution keeps the Ideals of Democracy Alive” the author traces the dramatic events leading to her detention, how she was and is being persecuted by the current administration, who vilifies her person and womanhood.
As a result, she came to grips with many realizations. First, political persecution is not about an individual; it is about an idea. Second, authoritarianism and populism are ideas that can never be killed. They are always there in the shadows of the human mind and society, waiting for someone to expertly manipulate reality, or the people’s perception of reality, to make them seem like the one and true answer to all the people’s woes. Third, populists and authoritarians create the illusion of simplicity, compared with the lofty ideals of democracy and liberalism. According to the author, to avert this we must learn to speak to the people, not to talk over them. Finally, political persecution is a threat to democracy. Persecutors want their victims to be silenced, and for others to take heed and obey.
In the essay “In Dark Times, the UDHR is a Beacon that History has Lit: Reflections of a Detainee” the author philosophizes about the life of those who choose to live for others, saying, “there are some of us to whom life is not just about one’s own existence, but about building a society, and advancing humanity and the world we inhibit.” For this people, however, life is not a straight line. This is precisely the driving force behind the Universal Declaration on Human Rights. She then ruminates on the reason of her detention, that is, she is detained not because she is guilty but because the powers that be are afraid of defenders of human rights; they fear those who will stand up for the poor, the defenseless and the oppressed, for we (human rights defenders) are what stands between them and their consolidation of absolute power and dominion. She is hopeful that someday she will regain her freedom because our society is standing on the foundation built by generations that have come before us. Dictatorships and oppressive regimes may come and go but truth and rule of law will prevail, she concludes.
“A Beacon In Dark Times: The UDHR Turns 70 But Why Do We Still Need It?”—this is the final opinion piece which the author wrote in collaboration with Morten Ostergaard, former Deputy Prime Minister of Denmark. The opinion piece was written in commemoration of the promulgation of the UDHR 70 years ago. She said that even at present the “values enshrined in the UDHR are in desperate need of resuscitation. If freedom-loving, democracy-cherishing peoples fail to come together, to act, to speak out soon, we will quickly discover that events will take over and we will have started acting too late. Populist-nationalists have our democracies in their sights and they have already fired an opening salvo.” She warns that “inaction is a choice not a defense, citing John Stuart Mill who once wrote:” Let not anyone pacify his conscience by the delusion that he can do no harm if he takes no part, and forms no opinion. Bad men need nothing more … than that good men should look on and do nothing.”
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