Press Release
December 5, 2018

Building an Avalanche of Truth and Justice:
The Real Struggle of Human Rights Defenders

Hon. Leila M. de Lima
Senator

Address to the National Summit of Human Rights Defenders
5 December 2018/ Cocoon Hotel, Quezon City

Some of you may already know my story.

An "outsider" from the human rights community, election law being the field of my initial practice, I became the Chair of the Commission on Human Rights (CHR), with a 7-year fixed term from from 2008-2015 , but cut short in 2010 when then President Benigno S. Aquino III appointed me as his Justice Secretary.

Taking my oath of office seriously, a trait I got from my father, I investigated then Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte as the suspected mastermind of the so-called Davao Death Squad (DDS), a group of police and civilian assassins that was believed to be responsible for the murder or enforced disappearance of approximately 1,800 individuals from 1988 to 2009.

Subsequently, as Secretary of Justice, I cracked down on the drug trade conducted by convicted drug lords inside the Bilibid national penitentiary by segregating them in a separate high-security building facility. Due to the tightened security, the drug lords lost access to illegal communication devices which they used to operate and manage the illegal drug trade from prison. The drug charges which have been eventually levelled against me are based on the fabricated testimonies of these drug lords and other convicted criminals serving time at the Bilibid prison. There is no other evidence, as there are no physical or documentary proof supporting the cases against me.

Today, I have been in unjust detention for 650 days, having been arrested on 24 February 2017 and being held without bail since then by the government of Rodrigo Duterte on original charges of trading in illegal drugs, but which were subsequently changed after more than a year to conspiracy to commit illegal drug trading.

My incarceration has been preceded and accompanied by a vicious campaign of personal vilification, character-assassination, and slut-shaming from no less than the Philippine president and his allies. There is no doubt that the personal attacks, political persecution and unjust detention that I have been suffering are inextricably connected to my unrelenting criticism of Duterte's so-called war on drugs and other anti-human rights policies. In fact, Duterte himself admitted that he caused my arrest because I led the Senate investigation into the rampant extrajudicial killings (EJKs) committed in his drug war.

In August 2016, I started the Senate investigation on the EJKs. One of my witnesses included a former assassin of the Davao Death Squad, who personally killed or witnessed the killing of drug suspects and political enemies of Duterte. After that, Duterte started making regular public announcements that he will destroy me. Even before the formal investigation at the Department of Justice and the filing of charges in the courts, Duterte publicly accused me of being a drug lord and vowed that I will rot in jail.

It is clear that I have been the target of an unprecedented political persecution, and a victim of too many gross violations of human rights. Halos lahat na ata ng kalapastangan ay ginawa at ginagawa sa akin ni Duterte at ng kanyang mga alipores. To name just a few of the rights that have been denied to me:

  •  Right to be presumed innocent

  • Right to free expression and opinion

  • Right against gender discrimination

  • Right to know the nature and cause of accusation

  • Right against arbitrary arrest and detention

  • Right to an independent and impartial tribunal

  • Right to bail

  • Right to fully discharge my mandate as a Senator

  • Right to reasonable contact with the outside world, including interactions with, and/or visits from foreign guests, members of the media and supporters

While there is definitely an element of personal vendetta and grudge on the part of Duterte in persecuting me, I largely attribute my arrest and incarceration to my advocacies as a human rights defender and a fighter for rule of law and democracy in our country. Panira raw ako sa patas. Salungat sa agos na gusto ni Duterte.

That this could happen to me, a sitting Senator, makes me realize the existence and enormity of the threat to the rights, welfare and work of our fellow Filipino HRDs. Naalala ko ang pagpaslang kay Atty. Ben Ramos na abogado ng mga pamilya ng namasaker na mga magsasaka sa Negros. Balita pa ngayon ang ginawang pagbabanta at paninira ni Duterte kay Bishop Ambo David na matapang na tumutuligsa sa kanyang karahasan at kabastusan. Pinakahuli ay yung pag-aresto kina Ka Satur Ocampo sa kasong human trafficking at kidnapping raw. Naiulat din ang maraming mga lider na katutubo, babae at relihiyoso na ginigipit, tinatakot, at dinadahas - ang iba pa nga ay walang awang pinagpapatay.

Ganito ang pagtrato ng gobyerno sa mga nagtataguyod sa karapatang pantao.

In this light, I think I don't need to overstate the obvious: We need the Human Rights Defenders Protection Act. We need a law that will safeguard the human rights defenders (HRDs) from harm, and help create an environment that will enable us to effectively carry out our mission. Trusting that our work and worth are truly invaluable in making a safer and more humane society - as we bravely challenge injustice, oppression and inhumanity anywhere; as we risk even our own lives when we speak truth to power anytime - we must push for the passage of a law that will defend the defenders.

While essential freedoms and basic rights are already guaranteed in our Constitution, amplified in our statutes, and enhanced in various treaties and in international law, we sorely lack a national legislation protective of the work and person of the defenders and advocates themselves. Actually, this has been pointed out in last year's Report of the UN Working Group on the Philippines' Universal Periodic Review (UPR), where it recommended, among others, the adoption of a national law for the promotion of the rights of the HRDs and the establishment of a climate conducive to their work. The Philippine government merely noted, but did not commit to support the recommendations in the said Report.

Magtataka pa ba tayo na ganito ang reaksyon ng kasalukuyang gobyerno? This brings me to one of my main points.

The really hard question before us is not about the need for a law on HRD protection, as it is already conceded. It is not about the why. It is all about when and how will we get the HRD bill enacted.

Sa isang panahon at lugar na ang pamahalaan mismo ang yumuyurak sa karapantang pantao, nilalapastangan ang konsepto nito, at walang patumanggang sinisikil ang gawain at pagkilos ng mga nagtataguyod dito, may pag-asa bang magkaroon ng batas na magpoprotekta sa kapakanan ng mga nagtatanggol sa karapatan?

Sa isang bayang nililinlang ng propaganda na hadlang diumano ang karapatang pantao sa pag-unlad, na ang human rights defenders ay destabilizers, na sila ay tagapagtanggol ng mga adik at kriminal, may tsansa bang suportahan ng marami ang human rights defenders bill?

Pinuntirya ko ang pamahalaan at ang taumbayan sa usapin ng pagsusulong ng ating panukalang batas sapagkat sa aking palagay dito tayo dapat magtuon ng pansin at prayoridad sa ating kampanya.

It is quite encouraging that the bills of Congressmen Zarate and Lagman at the House of Representatives are moving as the House Committee on Human Rights approved yesterday a substitute bill to be reported soon to the House plenary.

At the Senate, however, SB No. 1699, which I authored, has been stuck at the Committee on Justice and Human Rights since its referral in February this year.

That we should vigorously lobby with Senator Gordon, the chair of the Senate committee, along with his members and the rest of the upper chamber, is a given to get our bill moving in the legislative mill.

Ang mas malaking hamon sa ating mga HRDs: ang magpunyagi para makamit ang isang pulitikal at lehislatibong kahandaan para tuluyang maisabatas ang sistemang poprotekta sa gawain at kapakanan ng mga nagtataguyod ng karapatang pantao. Kritikal dito ang ipanalo sa isip at puso ng mga Pilipino na ang ating mga karapatan ay may tunay na kahulugan at pakinabang sa indibidwal na buhay ng bawat isa, at may saysay sa pagsasaayos ng bansa. Mahalaga ring maihakayat ang sapat na bilang ng mga lider na tataya para sa karapatang pantao at maniniwalang mahalaga ang mga ipinaglalaban ng mga HRDs.

Our campaign for the passage of the HRD Protection Act cannot and should not be divorced from the larger struggle for restoration of democracy, respect for sovereignty and rule of law, and triumph of social justice in our country. We must establish the broadest coalition of geographical and sectoral formations under a common banner of dignity and freedom for all. We must also seek to be understood in the language of the ordinary Filipinos.

Ang ating itatanong: ang ipinaglalaban ba ng mga kritikong kontra sa mga patayan ay may kinalaman sa mga hinaharap na pasakit ng mga mahihirap gaya ng mataas na presyo ng bilihin, trabahong hindi tiyak, sweldong hindi sapat, at paninirahang hindi sigurado?

Ang ating uusisain: ang iginigiit ba ng mga aktibista ukol sa karapatan sa pamamahayag at paniniwala ay may koneksyon sa kalikasang nawawasak, kabang-bayang ninanakaw, edukasyon at kalusugang napapabayaan?

In other words: while there should indeed be a project dedicated to the imperative of enacting the HRD Protection Act, the said endeavor should be pursued in the context of, and alongside the bigger campaign against the widespread human rights calamity that now devastates not just our civil liberties and political freedoms, but also our economic, social and cultural rights. We must work not only for the passage of just and meaningful laws, but we should likewise struggle to restore broken lives and shattered communities amidst the mayhem and the emergent authoritarianism.

Some analysts claim that Philippine democracy is dying, and that human rights are getting extinct in our society. They attribute it to the rise and continued popularity of the strongman Duterte, and the weakening of institutions that should have checked and balanced his excesses and abuses. This is true to a certain extent. The analysis however discounts the emerging will of the people, including HRD groups and other civil society organizations, to confront the socio-political catastrophe that has befallen us. Groups are coming together now and safe spaces for conversation and taking action are opening up. There is gradual yet sure turning of the tide. And, before we know it, the avalanche of truth and justice will come rushing to rid our society of despots and mass murderers.

My address to the 62nd Congress of Liberal International delivered by my brother Vicente de Lima II (Vicboy) last Friday night ended on a similar optimistic spirit, leaving the listeners with the words of the great Mahatma Gandi. I wish to impart the same message of hope as I attempt to translate to Filipino the same lines from the great moral and spiritual leader. Sinabi nya:

"Kapag ako'y nalulungkot, inaalala ko na sa buong kasaysayan, ang daan ng katotohanan at pag-ibig ay laging nagwawagi. May mga mapaniil at mamamatay-tao at minsan mukhang hindi sila natitinag, pero sa huli ay lagi naman silang bumabagsak - tandaan natin ito palagi."

Mabuhay ang mga human rights defenders! Magandang araw sa ating lahat.

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