By VIRGIL LOPEZ, GMA News
Published February 23, 2021 8:32pm
Photo: Office of Sen. Leila de Lima Opposition Senator Leila De Lima on Tuesday wished for freedom a day before she marks her fourth year in detention on drug-related cases. “Freedom and vindication soon,” De Lima, who came in full personal protective equipment, told reporters outside the Muntinlupa City court when asked about her thoughts on her continued incarceration. De Lima has been detained at the Philippine National Police Custodial Center in Quezon City since February 24, 2017 over allegations that she allowed the illegal drug trade to proliferate inside the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) during her term as justice secretary.
Opposition Senator Leila de Lima on Sunday thanked United States (US) senators Ed Markey, Richard Durbin, and Patrick Leahy for renewing their call for her immediate release and full exoneration from the drug charges that were filed against her by the government.
Opposition Senator Leila de Lima, on a medical furlough, underwent a two-day series of routine medical tests at the Manila Doctors Hospital in Manila.
Senator Leila de Lima (MANILA BULLETIN FILE PHOTO)
De Lima was escorted quickly back to the Philippine National Police (PNP) Custodial Center i
Published February 4, 2021, 12:03 PM
Opposition Senator Leila de Lima has filed a bill seeking to uphold academic freedom in the University of the Philippines (UP) and provide the institution the “democratic space” to ensure that exchanges and expression of ideas within its premises are free from intimidation from state forces.
Senator Leila de Lima (MANILA BULLETIN FILE PHOTO)
“While it is important to protect our national security, it is likewise important to afford our academic institutions the democratic space conducive to free exchange of ideas and critical thinking, which leads to more effective participation in the national conversation,” De Lima said in filing Senate Bill No. 2035.
Senator Leila de Lima
(MANILA BULLETIN FILE PHOTO)
De Lima, a known social justice and human rights champion, said the death of Fr. Rene Regalado, 42, also shows the worsening culture of killing under the current administration.
“The unabated killings in the country – from priests, to farmers, activists, lawyers and citizens from the vulnerable sector of society – are the result of the impunity and violence propagated by this murderous regime who show no regard for human life,” De Lima said in a statement.
Regalado was shot and killed as he was about to go back to his seminary in Barangay Patpat, Malaybalay City, last Jan. 24, according to police.