“May araw din po kayo.”
Embattled Senator Leila de Lima yesterday shot back at her detractors, particularly Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano whom she congratulated for succeeding to remove her as chairperson of the Senate committee on justice and human rights.
De Lima said she realized that her removal won’t stop her from fulfilling her mandate.
“No committee chairmanship is worth it, if it means sacrificing my principles and surrendering the causes that I pledged my life to fight for. Many friends and colleagues have told me, if only I did not call out the President on the murderous consequences of his war on drugs, and decided to be as meek as a sheep, I would not be in this trouble, and I would still have the committee chairmanship. As the Bible says, what does it profit a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose his soul? I choose to keep my soul,” De Lima said.
“Mr. President, it would take more than a committee chairmanship, a House inquiry intended to pillory and crucify me, an ethics committee complaint based on hearsay, a baseless election protest, everyday tirades from the secretary of justice and the solicitor general, and vicious personal attacks from the President, to take me down. I guess it would take two magazines of an Uzi machine pistol to take me down. As the saying goes, everything has been thrown at me except the kitchen sink. I am still waiting for the kitchen sink,” she said addressing her speech to Senate President Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III, another ally of the President.
Apparently still reeling from Monday’s development, De Lima bewailed her colleagues efforts to unseat her even though she had already understood their refusal to support her from Malacañang’s vicious attacks against her personality.
“I did not expect you or the Senators to defend me from the vicious attacks of Malacañang as a person and as an incumbent Senator of the Republic. The least I expected of course is you allow me to defend myself, by myself, without any support whatsoever from the Senate,” De Lima said.
“But for this body to strip me of my Committee in an unprecedented fashion at this point when we have categorical testimony establishing an uncanny similarity between the current phenomenon of the nationwide EJKs and the Davao City EJKs as perpetrated by the Davao Death Squad, was unimaginable. I now resolve to imagine more of what the President’s allies are capable of,” she pointed out.
The senator also said she is now bracing for more attacks, taking note of Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre’s promise to file criminal complaints against her this week.
De Lima, however, reiterated her belief these cases are all based on false and fabricated evidence.
(HANNAH TORREGOZA)