Press Release
November 3, 2019

Dispatch from Crame No. 638:
Sen. Leila M. de Lima's Statement on the Arrest of the 57 Activists in Negros

11/3/19

The arrest of 57 activists after the implementation of a search warrant in the offices of progressive groups in Bacolod and Escalante City is yet another page from Duterte's manual on tyranny. Questions on the legality of the arrest have been raised.

This blatant attack on political dissent, once again disguised as law enforcement, is an old formula for repression, abusing and forcing the judicial processes to give way to the whims of this administration in order to muffle the growing opposition to Duterte's quasi-dictatorial rule.

The continuing twisting of the law shows that this administration cannot handle the reality of the monsters it has created, the very same beasts that have preyed on the poor since day one. It continues to feed this nightmare of its making, thereby causing more people to stand up against the oppressive measures the Duterte Administration continues to propagate.

Tila hindi ata sila magsasawa sa ganitong panggigipit. Katunayan, nakikita ko na magpapatuloy ang ganitong istilo ng pamamalakad. Pero kahit ipagpatuloy nila ang paghabla ng mga kaduda-dudang kaso, kahit gumamit muli sila ng mga kwestyonableng search warrant, mas lalong titindig ang tao laban sa mga katiwalian at pang-aabuso ng administrasyong Duterte.

Duterte may have managed to detain these activists, but, like me, they too, and many others, will continue to fight and refuse to surrender to the repression of this regime. ###

(Access the handwritten copy of Dispatch from Crame No. 638, here: https://issuu.com/senatorleilam.delima/docs/dispatch_638)

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