Statement of Minority Senators Franklin Drilon, Risa Hontiveros, and Francis Pangilinan on the EU Parliament's call to release Senator Leila de Lima from jail

We express our sincerest gratitude and appreciation for the members of the European Parliament for adopting a resolution calling for the release of our colleague, Senator Leila De Lima, from imprisonment and the dismissal of the trumped-up charges against her.

This call by the European Parliament is a welcome addition to the growing body of respected persons and institutions here and abroad who condemn Senator de Lima's arrest and incarceration as baseless and the criminal charges against her as nothing more than politically-motivated fabrications.

The resolution should also remind the current administration that the international community will not turn a blind eye and do nothing towards government's attacks against the fundamental freedoms of Filipinos, and the severe deterioration of the human rights situation in the country during the past four years.

We stand with the European Parliament in urging government to free Senator De Lima and end her continued detention, and to stop extrajudicial killings, human rights abuses and other acts which have victimized and harmed countless Filipinos.

As long as Senator De Lima remains languishing in jail under such dubious charges and unjust circumstances, the current administration cannot truly claim that it is promoting justice and upholding the rule of law in the country.