Press Release
February 2, 2019

Dispatch from Crame No. 461:
A REAL MENACE TO SOCIETY; TIME TO SPEAK OUT
(Sen. Leila M. de Lima's Reflection in her 24th month of unjust detention)

2/2/19

We need to have a serious talk about Rody.

More specifically, we - parents, adults, educators, community leaders, and all self-respecting Filipinos - have to talk about Rody Duterte's foul mouth, which is like an open wound that oozes a revolting stream of pus that is the manifestation of the sickness that afflicts his mind and perverts his sense of morality.

He exposes our nation to his perversions, sick mind and his remorseless boasting about the crimes and abuses that he claims to have committed in his life, particularly while operating with virtually no restraint as the Mayor of Davao City, which he now translates as pseudo "policies" that he urges others to emulate. He boasted about personally killing people; he spoke of raping women, shooting them in the vagina, and of killing priests; and raves like a madman when he rants about his critics.

I have repeatedly spoken out about my vehement objections, condemnations and warnings about the dangers he presents to our nation and the very DNA of our Filipinohood. We are a God-fearing people, known for our generosity and hospitality, our respect for our elders, our Bayanihan spirit, and our capacity to find good amidst all the tragedies that befall us. We are bright-spirited people. Yet here comes this weak-minded man, posing like a dictator, attempting to transform us into hate-filled fear-mongers, who will bully the weak just to prove how "strong" we are.

It is strange that the same people who condemn a child they label a "bully", and those who advocate for the lowering of the age of criminal responsibility are sometimes the same people who are willing to give a chuckling pass to a grown man who acts, speaks and thinks like a toddler who lacks discernment.

Tirelessly, I spoke out. And every time I hear that people are still laughing at his so-called "antics" and non-"jokes", like they are the harmless jabber of an infantile mind, I lose a little respect for these people who enable him.

And that is exactly what these people are doing. Enabling a menace to society.

The same is true about those who are of the mind that he should just be ignored. That the high ground demands that we not "step down to his level" and engage his destructive rhetoric.

Pasensya po, pero hindi iyon ang kailangan ng bayan natin ngayon. Kawawa ang bayan kung mananahimik lang tayo at hahayaang maghasik ng lagim si Rody Duterte.

Rody Duterte and his foul mouth and mind is just like drugs. He destroys from without and from within. He destroys the bodies of Filipinos through the killings, and he destroys Filipino minds through his dangerous speech and depraved mind.

This is not the time to enable a sick-minded man.

This is the time to Save the Children.

This is the time to call him out each time he does or says something wrong, abnormal or outrightly evil. If we don't, we will be raising a whole generation of Filipino children whose moral compass will be as twisted as his.

This is the time to establish a #NSFFC - Not Safe For Filipino Children - rating, which warns parents and adults to protect impressionable eyes and ears from being exposed and traumatized whenever he appears and speaks on television.

He is that dangerous. More dangerous than the fictional depictions of sex, violence, drug-use, etc. that children may become exposed to through TV shows and movies. Why? Because this is real life, not fantasy. And he's no ordinary man; he holds a position of power that might mislead children into thinking that everything he does is right - even if they are very, very horribly wrong.

He is a disease that corrupts the Filipino people's ability to discern right from wrong. Already, there are those who cannot tell "charisma" apart from "good leadership". Whatever fuels Rody's popularity, it isn't good or noble leadership. Not if he speaks and acts like a criminal, yet seeks to criminalize troubled children.

So before we punish our children for the bad example that we expose them to, we have to take a stand and protect them from such bad examples.

So why should we keep silent? This is the time to speak out. Speak out and Save the Children. Duterte is NSFCC.

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