Press Release
November 6, 2021

Dispatch from Crame No. 1170:
Sen. Leila M. de Lima on her expression of profound gratitude to Cong. Tom Villarin

These past weeks, after I filed my CoC for my reelection bid, I have been receiving passionate commitments and pledges of support.

I am humbled by the outpouring of solidarity, selfless and voluntary efforts, from various groups and individuals, from friends and allies, and recently with its sheer extraordinariness, from Cong. Tom Villarin.

He embarked on a two-week sortie in Mindanao on his own to reach out to local officials, supporters and sympathizersand everyone willing to listento share his insights on my situation, championing my innocence, and clinching support for my reelection.

His extraordinary efforts at truth-telling, chronicling them in his Oct. 29 and Oct. 31 FB posts (Parts 1 & 2), and later converted into a Rappler piece published last Nov. 1, are deeply moving and uplifting.

Let me express my profound gratitude to Cong. Tom. Maraming salamat sa inisyatibong ito. Ramdam na ramdam ko ang iyong buong suporta at pagmamalasakit sa akin at sa mga prinsipyo sa katarungan at karapatang pantao na tinitindigan natin.

Let me also commend your dedication to living the ideals of faithfully listening to the people in the community, going out of social media's echo chamber. Sobra akong humanga sa iyong dedikasyon.

Aside from being detained, my reelection bid is made even more difficult by the onslaught of continued vilification, fake news and disinformation against me by President Duterte's troll farms and digital mercenaries.

Malinaw sa naging interaksyon ni Cong. Tom na malaki ang naging epekto ng fake news at paninira laban sa akin kahit sa mga komunidad sa Mindanao. Pero isang bagay ang ipinasasalamat ko mula rin sa kanyang kwento: Marami pa rin sa mga kababayan natin ang handang makinig at bukas na magbahagi ng kanilang karanasan.

Kailangan lamang nating punan ang kakulangan sa wastong impormasyon at ibalik ang katotohanan sa kamalayan ng ating mga kababayan sa pakikipag-usap at pakikinig.

Sa ganyang paraan, malalabanan natin ang fake news. Hindi natin hahayaang fake news at troll farms na naman ang gawing tiket ng administrasyon sa Malacañang.

On air, in social media, and more especially in the community, we must fight back against Duterte's and his minions' lies and disinformation. Let's turn this election into a fight for the truth as we rally behind VP Leni and the slate and demonstrate radical love to our kababayans. Walang maliit na ambag.

Muli, maraming salamat sa sakripisyo at inspirasyon, Cong. Tom. Let's win this! #LeniKiko2022

Access the handwritten version of Dispatch from Crame No. 1170, here: https://issuu.com/senatorleilam.delima/docs/dispatchno1170

See Cong. Tom Villarin's Oct. 29 and Oct. 31 FB posts (Parts 1 & 2) here: https://www.facebook.com/589048303/posts/10159788622773304/?sfnsn=mo
https://www.facebook.com/tom.villarin/posts/10159794075663304

 

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