De Lima: Support of US Congress a ‘vindication’
MANILA, Philippines — Detained lawmaker Leila de Lima on Tuesday expressed gratitude to the United States lawmakers who pushed for the passage of a bill imposing sanctions on local officials involved in her imprisonment.
In a statement on New Year’s Eve, De Lima thanked Sens. Patrick Leahy and Richard Durbin, as well as the other lawmakers in the US Congress who supported a provision that would keep those linked to her incarceration from entering the US.
The provision was included in the US National Budget for 2020 signed by President Donald Trump this month.
“This bipartisan support from high-ranking law- and policy-makers in the US has given me a gift I have been longing for: vindication,” De Lima said.
She added: “Because these veteran US public officials would not be standing with me if they had any doubt about my innocence or the fact that my persecution is an attack, not just against me but against human rights and human rights defenders.”
De Lima also commended Leahy and Durbin for standing their ground and calling out Manila’s threat to deny visa-free entry to US citizens.
In a briefing last week, presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo said the Philippines will require Americans to secure visas before entering the country should the US Secretary of State bans local officials linked to the incarceration of De Lima from traveling to the US. American citizens currently enjoy 30-day visa-free stay in the Philippines.
Durbin on Tuesday (Manila time) called the move a “strong-arm tactic.”
“The Duterte regime should stop threatening the travel of these Filipino Americans and so many others who travel between our nations, and instead release Sen. De Lima or assure a quick and credible trial,” he said.
Leahy earlier described the threat as “irrational.”
“They both nailed it on the end,” De Lima said.
De Lima, an outspoken critic of the Duterte administration, was jailed in 2017 over drug charges filed by the Department of Justice. She is accused of involvement in the illegal drug trade at the New Bilibid Prison when she was Justice secretary during the administration of former president Benigno Aquino III.
She repeatedly denied the allegations, saying the charges against her are politically motivated and trumped-up.
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