Watching another one of Philippine Senator Leila De Lima’s press conferences where she goes hysterical and spews conspiracy theories about President Rodrigo Duterte made me realise that freedom of speech is being abused by a lot of Filipinos. Those who enjoy the privilege of venting their frustration against the President like De Lima are the same people who keep insinuating that Philippine democracy is under attack. The irony of what they are saying and doing escapes them.
Leila de Lima’s track record makes her unqualified to be a human rights advocate.
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Frankly, mainstream media should already do a media blackout on De Lima. Her presence in the news is already starting to make some people sick. She seems to be all over the place. She has become the most photographed woman in the Philippines. Media photographers follow her every move. She seems to be enjoying the attention despite the predicament she is in. I don’t really understand why media organisations keep giving her the opportunity to talk about her “innocence”. She doesn’t even address the allegations directly. It’s hard to understand her point because she is shouting all the time. She appeals to Duterte to stop attacking her even though Duterte hasn’t spoken about her to the media for weeks. De Lima is the one who is attacking Duterte relentlessly.
Hopefully, once the cases against her are already in court, she will be compelled to stop talking to avoid jeopardising them. Unless of course she is really that stubborn that she is willing to ignore one of the most basic rules in winning court cases.
De Lima seems to have found an ally in the Catholic Church. They recently invited her to speak after a mass at the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines’ (CBCP) headquarters. After living what seems like a hedonistic lifestyle, De Lima has become a daughter of the Catholic Church. It must be a miracle. We can believe it if De Lima shows more humility in the coming days. But we shouldn’t hold our breaths. The Catholic Church and De Lima’s alliance seems to have been born out of both being butthurt over Duterte’s tirade against them. Duterte has spoken out against the Church a few times in the past for their hypocrisy. Now the priests have decided to make De Lima their advocate of “human rights”.
De Lima is the last person who should talk about human rights because of her track record of disregarding the rights of others. She says she is a defender of the Constitution forgetting the fact that she denied former President Gloria Arroyo’s right to travel overseas and right to presumption of innocence. After that, she also ignored the temporary restraining order issued by the Supreme Court allowing Arroyo to travel. I don’t know how she was not disbarred after that, I am guessing it was due to patronage politics, but just because she got away with breaking the law with impunity doesn’t mean the people have forgotten about it.
Speaking of human rights, in her new bill the “Anti-Extrajudicial Killing of 2016” she is proposing requiring the police to issue a warning before arresting a suspect by announcing the same through a megaphone. Some are saying that her proposal just proves that she is more concerned about criminals getting away and less concerned about the safety of the police officers who could get harmed once the suspects get the chance to get armed or prepare to retaliate.
De Lima’s new bill that seems to be favourable to the criminals could explain why the crime rate was high during her stint as Department of Justice Secretary. The figures show it too:
》CRIME RATE up by 350% (2010 to 2014):
¤ 2010 : 324,083
¤ 2014 : 1,160,000
De Lima should be careful about the way she attacks Duterte. She could be starting to incite sedition. She warns that Duterte wants to set up a revolutionary government that would do away with Congress. She is getting paranoid and reckless with her words. She doesn’t realise that she could scare investors and promote discord in Philippine society. With senators like her, the public may even be happy for Duterte to get rid of them. She is proving to be useless as a senator. She has accomplished nothing but promote disunity and fear in Philippine society since she became a senator. If she’s not guilty of the allegations she played a role in the illegal drug trade inside the nation’s penitentiary, the New Bilibid Prison, then she is guilty of destabilising the country. That should definitely be punishable by imprisonment.
[Photo courtesy GMA News Online.]
In life, things are not always what they seem.
The Roman Catholic Church has priests who were found guilty of molesting young boys and girls. If they defend De Lima, who is an immoral woman. They are defending immorality in public office. De Lima , Aquino , Mar Roxas, etc…are also the cause of illegal Shabu Drug proliferation in our country.
Religion should get out of politics. They should be involved in preaching the gospels of their religion. Not defending corrupt politicians.
The faster De Lima is locked up in jail; the better. This evil woman wants to take the whole Philippines down; as she goes down !
Again, we do not want any foreign countries or foreign entities, to meddle in our political affairs. Or to be used by corrupt politicians, like De Lima, to save themselves from legitimate charges ! We can solve our own problems ! Stay Away from the Philippine political affairs !!!
What De Lima & the Catholic Church should understand is that:
[1] Not only are illegal drugs evil by themselves, these also lead to other evils—–i.e. heinous crimes like rape, murder, violent robbery, & so on. The safety & security of these victims are effectively the president’s prime directive. The human rights of these victims should be given more importance & emphasis over the so-called “rights” of druggies (which they’ve practically abused & forfeited),
[2] Methods have to be aggressive just to put a dent on the illegal drug modus.
[3] This problem is so urgent, it demands to be one of, if not, THE highest priority. Otherwise, it would continue to deeply & rapidly spread to such magnitude, it would become simply insurmountable.
[4] Those former druggies who complied are now on their way towards rehabilitation & help, so that they can get their lives back in order & become positively contributing members of society. Those who continue to [violently] resist are the ones putting the lives of law enforcers & their own in danger.
There are two kinds of people: [1] Pragmatic people who pay more attention to the president’s action, sincerity, & substance, and [2] Morally ascendant & superficial hypocrites who simply pay more attention to the president’s controversial utterances.
Another bullseye of an article Ms.Ilda although the same could be said of some of the anti duterte supporters. They really should stop with the whining and start appreciating how much of an improvement this administration is over the last incompetent piece of crap we had for the past 6 years.
Interested to see “JoeAm”‘s dissenting opinion on this issue. “JoeAm”, pasok. =)
Whatever he writes, it will not be portrayed as a “dissenting opinion,” but as a “disente” opinion.
Yeah he’s right on time, too. =) Look below. =) LOL
How can Sen. De Lima’s criticism of Pres. Duterte be an abused of the right to speak by a lot of Filipinos?
If the above is what the content of De Lima’s speech are, how can that be an abuse? Maybe we can say she complains a lot. But abuse? I don’t think so.
Don’t you think that is a dangerous precedent? I mean, media blackout is censorship. Are we going to censor a valid expression or criticism? For what? For her being noisy or popular?
Basically, sedition is commonly done with the accompaniment of force, intimidation, or by other means outside of legal methods to prevent the government from doing its job. I don’t think there was concrete basis to even talk about it with regard to De Lima’s action because I’ve seen none to support it.
What came to mind after reading the article is the question of: How do you solve a problem like De Lima?
I guess, so far, without seeing any clear reason, there is none the Duterte administration can do right now.
Solving the problem of De Lima ?
Lock her up , and throw away the key …the way , she is asking for assistance from foreign entities and countries, is Pathetic.
De Lima is even using religion , and the young to gain sympathy !
De Lima is a criminal, who profited from illegal Shabu Drug business ! She used Narco politics, to get elected as a Senator…. De Lima, Aquino, Mar Roxas, and those involved , directly or indirectly in the illegal Drug Shabu proliferation, are the cause our country is now , a NARCO Republic !
To stop DeLima is to lock her up soonest. Media should stop giving her media mileage to attack our President. Freedom of speech is being abused by DeLima. Another thing, the Catholic Church should stop meddling, siding, and protecting corrupt politicians like DeLima.
CBCP should be concerned with their corrupt priests who abused minors, women and boys.
Thanks Ilda for your timely and very vivid story of DeLima’s improper attitudes. Lock DeLima up and kick her out if the Senate.
What happen with Ethics Committee ?
For once, I agree.
De Lima is an annoying whinning hypocrite, yes. But then again, these tirades of hers are her right and I don’t think she’s abusing them. She has all the right to criticize the government the same way we criticize her.
I say, we let her keep talking and let the people judge for themselves. Gnogid here may keep giving her the benefit of the doubt. And that’s alright I guess. But many people see her as the hypocrite that she is, and that’s alright too.
De Lima is the mother of all Drug Lords. Our justice system; the evidences; the witnesses will determine her guilt.
The Judges, who will handle her numerous drug related cases of corruption will judge her…it will be their decision… not the people !
These are criminal cases…not election !
why would you treat drug lords’ testimony as gospel?
Nampucha, the bot needs calibration. De Lima is the mother of all drug lords, meaning she’s guilty but at the same time the bot is not sure because her guilt will still be determine. ????
@Popoy Because, testifying before a court, getting cross examined, one will be able to test their credibility.
That is why the question of “How do you solve a problem like De Lima” is a hard one to grapple with. It’s hard to answer and at the same time stay on topic. “Bots” like Toro Hyden can only answer in his usual “programmed attacks” because to examine De Lima and have a bias view at the same time would be very hard for some people here.
Look, hypocrisy is not a crime. We can all shout in high heavens that De Lima is guilty as hell but we can only go so far as that. I’m giving her the benefit of the doubt because I don’t see anything wrong in what she’s doing. She’s a senator and she has an issue that she wants to ventilate and investigate in an open environment. Who don’t want that? I also give the government the benefit of the doubt. Only thing was, since it has the control on organized violence it is threading on a fine line every time De Lima takes a potshot at it. It’s like a Davie & Goliath thing.
Here’s my take on the whole scenario and I’m sure a lot of you guys will disagree with me. De Lima is a pain in the ass for the Duterte administration. She’s the single factor, aside from Trillanes, that causes unhappiness for Pres. Duterte. She has been a thorn for him even when he was still a mayor. Now, that he’s president she’s still there ready to harass and annoy him. Very clear, if it’s a basketball game, team De Lima is leading by 20 points against a hometown favorite, team Duterte.
While we’re seeing “physical plays and personal fouls” being utilized against her, and I think worse is yet to come, she’s still punching and scoring and dominating. Yes, we can call her names, insult and attack her but if you ask Pres. Duterte, knowing him, I’m sure he’ll say he wish she was dead.
So, again, how do you solve a problem like De Lima?
: )
The solution depends entirely on De Lima’s motives which at this point is hard to figure out.
If you believe that she’s doing what she’s doing solely to uncover the truth, protect the citizens, and uphold their rights, then you may argue that there is no problem to solve at all.
If her motives are sinister politics, then we let the government continue the case against her and let them persecute her when she’s proven guilty.
Until we find out the while story, all we can do is to discuss and debate. At this point, we can’t really make anyone shut up about the issue so just tolerate the noise while you’re “debating”.
How do you solve a problem like De Lima?
The solution is very, very simple: Prove or show that De Lima is wrong.
Unfortunately, the other team cannot or is not doing that. Why? Maybe they don’t have a case against her. Motive? How long or how hard can you prove a motive? She has been shadowing Duterte since he was just a mayor. He’s been losing games against her since way back then and you’re still figuring out her motive? Wow!
Man, De Lima, in spite of debacles and blockades we’re seeing the other team are doing against her is leading and winning the game. She’s been called all the names in the world that you can identify with bad or worst, embarrassed before the eyes of the public and found herself in precarious situation brought about by her official function but the other team still cannot dispose of her. They’re still having a headache over her.
Look, the first five of coach Ilda, Toro Hyden, Felipe, Johnny Derp, Umberto and Dick S. O’Rosary have nothing to show in terms of defeating her. All they can come up with are snide, insults, recycled allegations and just pure character assassination that failed to put the De Lima team in the corner. She’s still a problem for the administration.
The second team of JimDiGriz, Baylee, jong, d_forsaken and trix is much worse because these five are wanting in simple logic and their offense is terrible!
The Duterte team is losing in the Senate, in shambles in the House and scampering in blogs like this. They cannot defeat, silence, stop or terminate the ever advancing De Lima offense! You think it’s time to overhaul the team and put new players that knows how to deliver a win? Maybe perhaps recruit gnogid? Lol! ????
Given that scenario, we go back to the main question, how do you solve a problem like De Lima? Though the answer was already given above, the De Lima team continues to control the game.
gnogid = numbskull
JimDiGriz = handsome, genius and a very nice person. ????
For once, you are on point. Good job!
Pro Pinoy G. Nuguid alyas “gnogid:
Who was responsible for the proliferation of the illegal Drug Shabu ?
It was under former DOJ Sec. De Lima’s responsibility.
Why did the National Bilibid Prison, became the Center of the Shabu Drug Trade and Operation?
It was under the responsibility of former DOJ Sec. De Lima.
Why are there so many Shabu addicts in the Philippines ?
The illegal Shabu Drug Trade, even went into the Barangay level. Governors, Mayors, Barangay Captains, became Shabu Drug Traffickers.
This was under the responsibilities of former Local Government Sec. Mar Roxas and Former DOJ Sec. Leila De Lima. The responsibility also falls under Aquino. Command responsibility…
With your position in the government, comes responsibilities. The Filipino peoples’ trust has been compromised by these corrupt officials, due to their greed…like the greed of the Aquinos in owning Hscienda Luisita !
The witnesses have spoken. The evidences are there; evidences more glaring than the late Supreme Court Justice Renato Corona, in his impeachment trial. We congratulate DOJ Sec. Vitaliano Aguirre, for doing a good job, in the investigation !
Leila de Lima, is the Mother of all Drug Lords. She profited immensely from the Drug Trade, that involved billions of pesos; and the sufferings of thousands of addicted Filipinos…
She made the country a NARCO Republic. She made politics , a NARCO politics…
Now, she is pandering for public sympathy. She will be judged: guilty or not guilty, by our Justice System.
The Constitution was made by Cory Aquino. It is now ironic, that a cahoot of the Aquinos is now being tried by the Justice system, they placed in our country…
The Bitch De Lima, should be locked up. Throw away the key !
Burn the Bitch !!! “Magandang pinogpogan for asocena, para sa pulutan” !
Dimwit YellowTard like gnogid, tries to justify the crimes of his/her patron: De Lima ! How pathetic !
bot Toro, don’t blame me if you are losing. I’m just watching the game and analyzing it.
Your shotgun approach or what we call in Tagalog, “bara-bara” style of accusation is not helping the team. Proof of that is De Lima remains to bean annoying fly pestering and resting on Duterte’s nose.
You talked of responsibility, so why not tell the Duterte team about it so they can utilize it against her? Why are they not using what you are saying? That’s for you to answer.
So far, bot Toro you are embarrassing your team for failing to come up with a good and better offense. I can’t blame you, though. Malacanang can’t do it, the Senate can’t do it and the amateurs in the House is helpless about it. The De Lima juggernaut is unstoppable. Well, you might say they were able to stop her investigation in the Senate. Yes, true. But in essence, her shadow continues to loom over the Duterte administration.
Actually, she’s like you, a very annoying, obnoxious, troublesome, pesky, vexatious and smelly fly. But unlike you, she has brains. ???? ???? ????! Biro lang, ‘igan!
Uhh they is already an on-going case against her. The administration has already presented their first set of witnesses. Now, if the witness accounts can be proven through physical evidences remains to be seen.
Also, the same argument could be made against De Lima. As you said, she has been shadowing Duterte since he was a mayor. Even before he became president, De Lima has been saying she has found evidences linking him to extra-judicial killing. Yet she took her sweet time. Why?
The administration was able to provide witnesses in a short time. De Lima had years to do so yet she only chose to file a case against Duterte just recently. And we still have to see if her witnesses’ statements correlate with the evidences.
As for the motive, we are given two. Accoding to the administration, she means to secure her and her ally’s power and to cover up her atrocities. According to De Lima, she’s doing this for the greater good and to expose the current administration’s atrocities. Either could be true, or neither. We still need to watch the story unfold!
In my personal opinion, they are both on equal footing with one having the support of the Filipino community while the other is being backed by the internation media. I, for one, wants to wait for the rest of the story to unfold. I’m currently leaning in favor of the administration with regards to the De Lima issue (not so much in the other issues) but I’m open to any conclusion should certain evidences arise.
You on the other hand seem to already made up your mind. So I end the discussion here.
I made up my mind? I’m watching the game and analyzing it, remember?
It just so happened that my analysis tend to interpret the De Lima team winning the game so far and I have stated my reasons why. I don’t see it as one team supported by “Filipino community” and the other by “international media”. No such thing. This is a case of government officials that have a history, political or personal, between themselves.
While you lean in favor of the gov’t. I still continue to give the benefit of the doubt on both sides. Why you’re holding back your position and just be content in saying where you lean and remain open, I, on the other hand, am giving my complete view of the scenario of what I’m seeing, round by round or per quarter, so to speak..
I agree, we end the discussion here.????
Delimaw, the hypocrite queen. She sure never hesitated to convict the likes of Enrile, Estrada, and Revilla for any graft and corruption yet this bitch keeps whining about injustice she’s getting, even though evidence of her involvement with the same type of corruption is so compelling.
It’s just hilarious that she thinks she’s some special kind of person to get away same charges that she so readily threw at others she accused of before. CBCP are those who are against RH bill before cause they want more and more reckless Filipinos to do away better family planning and keep getting impoverished to always be on their mercy. These are those old poisonous aspects of our nation that needed the harshest rebukes and penalties.
These couldn’t care much about the plight of the average hardworking still in mediocre living standards ; it’s really best to do away with them as they are only being counter productive to the process of renewing and redeeming the governance and the whole of sovereignty.
Pro Pinoy G. Nuguid alyas “gnogid”:
“De Lima is a juggernaut”, as per “gnogid”.
De Lima is indeed a juggernaut… She is a juggernaut in her greed of selling Shabu to the Filipinos. She is a juggernaut in bed, expert on “Kama Sutra” on : Ronnie Dayan; Jaybee Sebastian; etc…whoever, she juggernaut with her tremendous sexual appetite.
She is a juggernaut, in her greed for power, by using the Drug Lords in the National Bilibid Prison to finance her candidacy for the Philippine Senate.
Now, the Juggernaut has turned against her…because, she is going to jail, for a long time…oh Boy…Oh Boy…that is a tremendous juggernaut for her !
How pathetic is the dimwit YellowTard Troll, named “gnogid”, defending his/her Patron: De Lima, the mother of all Drug Lords !
Ilda, being a writer you should be the last person calling for legal action on “hate speech”. Originally by JS Mill in On Liberty: “All silencing of discussion is an assumption of infallibility”, surely even you would not claim duterte is infallible. Besides, we need a senate that’s not a rubber stamp. What happened to you? something changed starting with this presidency. Are you a closet authoritarian?
dejavu. nangyari na to dati.. remember ninoy? yung difference lang hindi na nila ngayon mauuto ang mga filipino citizens.
good read miss ilda
I will never give the benefit of the doubt to someone like De Lima.
Laughable that she seems to be too concerned on what is happening on the streets, while when she was DOJ secretary, Vegas is happening inside the prison cells. How can you preach justice when you cannot serve justice to those already convicted. Even if we do not get to the money involved, there is just too much wrong that has happened inside Bilibid while she was DOJ head. I can even say those audiences on her presscons and speeches are cowards for not asking the right questions.
If you do not see her as a destabilization agent, you are brainwashed.
Keep on shooting off your big, fat, disgusting pie hole DeLima. Fucking everyone is already sick and tired of your crap.
Even your fellow senators know you are a piece of shit. I’m not surprised the Church is on her side. They smell the same way.
The above is proof why De Lima is winning the game. She really makes them crazy and mad until everyone gets tired of her crap and eat their own shit until their sense of smell gets strong.
Score: Team De Lima 4⃣5⃣
Team Du Thirty 0⃣3⃣
????????????
Pro Pinoy’s G. Nuguid alias “gnogid”:
So, you appoint yourself the: referee, the score master, and the YellowTard coach ?
Only a YellowTard dimwit, like “gnogid” will do that, self appointment. Then he/she declare himself a winner ! What a real dimwit ! LOL !!!
bot Toro, as a player from Team Du Thirty, that’s an unsportsmanlike conduct. Don’t be hot-headed or else your team will surely lose. And lose bad. : )
Look, you are trailing against Team De Lima. It would be better you improve your plays so that you can score against the enemy.
Don’t mind me, I’m just an observer. I have no control of the game you are playing. Your poor playing is what makes you a loser.
Play defense and effective offense, bot Toro! ????
Delimaw just couldn’t be taken seriously. Her dramatics are even getting very tiresome that only the mainstream press cared enough to make her look like she’s been through so much crap boo hoo. Yet in the past, she unquestionably helped Arroyo get herself her jail card for similar corruption charges.
I hope this bitch gets roasted the way she did to others in the past. Fair is fair.
The real problem with big issues is that both parties have to be brave at the same time. Every G-D-F-SOB will tell you not to do that to get partisan advantage. Too many Failipinos in the Failippines are willing to deliberately harm their own country for partisan gain. That is borderline treason.
We must congratulate the nuns, the priests, and the journalists for haiing Leila de Lima as a new icon for feminism.
Thanks to them, we now have a new concept of feminism, exemplified by De Lima’s grand achievements, such as enabling prostitution in Bilibid.
When De Lima was DOJ secretary, VIP inmates at the national penitentiary could order prostitutes as easily as ordering a hamburger.
Drug lord Vicente Sy testified that one reason why he paid DOJ officials millions of pesos to be transferred back to Bilibid was “kung gusto mo ng babae, isang oras lang, meron na”.
Sy’s “friend” and supplier, former bold star Rossana Roces, confirmed on Facebook that she was “taga-deliver ng karne” at the prison, earning P25k for every woman she brought, “kahit reject”.
Reynante Diaz, talent manager of singing inmate Herbert Colangco, also testified that he supplied women to Bilibid.
He classified them into three based on looks: bangus, tilapia, or sugpo. Sugpo were the cheapest, he said, because just like shrimp, you can throw away the head and just use the body.
During De Lima’s term, women were bought and sold like fish inside the national penitentiary.
What a victory for women’s rights! What a miestone for feminism!
Parents of the girls who go to Holy Spirit, Miriam College, and the other schools on De Lima’s PR itinerary must be thrilled to know that their daughters are being used to deodorize her filth.
They should get a cut out of the PR “donations” certain school officials are getting for hosting these talks…..
My thoughts exactly, it’s just nauseatingly disgusting.
The drug peddling prison mama-san holding swank speeches in front of nuns and pupils. Just excellent.
What kind of a role model is that woman?
She has the charm and personality of a garbage dump fire covering her surroundings in toxic fumes when she is opening her fat, stinking facial orifice.
Yes, but where are the tangible, clear, concrete, factual proof that De Lima orchestrated, did, committed and made all of those allegations? Without supplying your theory with legs I think it’s going to be a score for team De Lima again.
I mean, we can always paint a picture putting De Lima in a bad light and motivate others to say “My thoughts exactly” but it will not hold water if it can be questioned for weakness in logic for wanting of facts.
You know what “my thoughts exactly” is? It’s De Lima drilling those three pointers again with both hands raised and three fingers on each flashing while shouting…
“De Lima three points!” ????
First an attack on ‘DUE PROCESS’ by murdering stret-level alleged drug-dealers. NOW, lets get rid of ‘Freedom of Speech’.
As the cesspool know as De Republica de Pilipinas continue to dwell in the sewer, lets get rid of all the CIVIL RIGHTS of the people because someone doesn’t like the Senator.
If they weren’t so “pasiga” and resisted the police, they wouldn’t have died.
Sorry, it has nothing to do with “liking” the Senator. From what it appears, her own peers turned on her for turning the Senate into a circus. Its her karma for violating a Supreme Court order upholding PGMA’s right to travel.