Opposition Senator Leila M. de Lima has laughed off Mr. Duterte’s rehashed remarks on her alleged guilt over illegal drug trading charges which were fabricated by him and his lackeys in the first place.
De Lima, the first prominent political prisoner under the present administration, called Mr. Duterte a pathological liar whose oath as a President is worth nothing but “garbage.”
“Duterte says that the charges against me are true, on his oath as President. Well, we all know what his oath is worth,” she said in her recent Dispatch from Crame No. 651.
“Mr. Duterte, your oath is worth garbage. Pathological liar as you are, your oath doesn’t mean anything anymore. Just like those of so-called witnesses against me, whom you and your operators pressured to lie, also under oath,” she added.
On De Lima’s 1,000th day in unjust detention last Nov. 20, Mr. Duterte accused De Lima anew of benefitting from the proceeds of the illegal drug trade inside the New Bilibid Prison and that she purportedly used the drug money for her senatorial campaign in 2016.
De Lima, a known prisoner of conscience, has consistently maintained that no amount of lies by the government could erase her innocence from all trumped-up illegal drug charges filed against her by the present government.
In explaining why Duterte’s oath is not believable, the lady Senator from Bicol recalled Mr. Duterte’s fake and unfulfilled promises to the Filipino people, including his vow to rid the country of illegal drugs in six months.
“Duterte swore to defend the Constitution, including the Bill of Rights. Instead, he waged a drug war that summarily executed thousands of Filipinos, depriving them of life without due process of law,” she said.
“He swore to eliminate crime and corruption in six months.Instead, crime and corruption only worsened under this administration, with people gunned down in public like dogs and cabinet and other executive officials rampaging in their shakedown of government contracts,” she added.
The former justice secretary reminded Mr. Duterte that his oath, which could only fool his allies and blind followers, does not replace proof and the truth.
“To resort to relying on his ‘oath’ is to admit desperation. Laway laway lang talaga ang basehan ng 1,000 days na pagkakakulong. Samantalang yung ibang may ebidensya laban sa kanila, nakalaya kahit nagnakaw pa sa taumbayan,” she said.
“Wala na hong naniniwala sa inyo, Ginoong Duterte, maliban na lang sa mga panatiko mong tropa. Wala na ring nakikinig sa’yo kundi mga uto-uto at nagpapagamit mong kaalyado na pawang bulaang propeta ng kasinungalingan at panlilinlang na gaya mo,” she added.
De Lima has earned Mr. Duterte’s ire when she initiated a Senate investigation into the unabated spate of extrajudicial killings in the government’s all-out war on drugs, which prompted her incarceration.