Dispatch from Crame No. 612:
Sen. Leila M. de Lima's Statement on Mr. Panelo's personal attacks vs US Senator Patrick Leahy

10/2/19

Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo calls US Senator Patrick Leahy "ignorant" about the circumstances surrounding my arrest and detention. Before Panelo - the lawyer of choice of the most high-profile of criminals like Mayor Sanchez and the Ampatuans - starts calling US Senators ignorant, he should first sit back and take stock from were US Senators are coming from.

These US Senators would not stake their names and reputations needlessly if they do not believe in my innocence and my causes. It will not be presumptuous to assume that these US Senators must have verified the information they receive about my situation with key agencies of the US Government i.e., the US State Department, the Central Intelligence Agency, the US Drug Enforcement Agency, and even the US Embassy here.

My persecution started with a daily public media demolition by none other than Duterte, using all his powers as President. This was followed by a vicious social media campaign conducted by DDS Trolls, led by Duterte sycophants Mocha Uson, Sass Rogando Sasot, and RJ Nieto. Then came the House investigation where criminal convicts were induced to testify against me in exchange for prison privileges and immunity, if not presidential pardon, as led by former Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez, former DOJ Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre, Solicitor General Jose Calida, PAO Chief Persida Acosta, Sandra Cam, Dante Jimenez, Congressmen Rey Umali and Rudy Fariñas, together with the host of congressmen and congresswomen who all took turns casting the proverbial stone in a twisted slut-shaming circus where details of my private life as well as residence and contact number were broadcast live in the congressional hearing.

After the public circus, the series of irregular if not illegal proceedings took place, starting with the preliminary investigation, the issuance of the warrant of arrest, and the affirmation of all these questionable proceedings by the Supreme Court, voting 9 - 6, in a case that Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio called "one of the grossest injustices ever perpetrated in recent memory in full view of the Filipino nation and the entire world".

During the trial, the criminal convicts who are disqualified by law to testify as state witnesses are allowed to testify, even when their own admissions should have made them the primary accused as the drug lords who I tried to stop when I raided the Bilibid in December 2014. Duterte himself took a direct hand in controlling the inmates-witnesses when he ordered their transfer from Bilibid to a military facility.

We do not need rocket science to conclude that the Duterte-led smear campaign against me which is unprecedented in magnitude was the precursor of the trumped-up drug charges anchored on a grand conspiracy of lies. The so-called legal processes are merely meant to legitimize or lend a color of validity or legitimacy to the fake charges. Only flat-earthers and the DDS will believe that there is any truth in these charges.

Panelo can consider the above-enumerated personalities as my initial list of those responsible for my illegal imprisonment and political persecution. He should rest assured that he is also at the top of this list as the Presidential Legal Counsel since the start of the Duterte Administration, and who should have advised Duterte that destroying my reputation, violating my human rights, and depriving me of my physical freedom are blatant abuses offensive to justice and humanity to which the world will not keep silent, except probably in China and Russia. ###

(Access the handwritten version of Dispatch from Crame No. 612, here: https://issuu.com/senatorleilam.delima/docs/dispatch_no._612)