De Lima cites 5 reasons for re-election bid

After filing her Certificate of Candidacy (CoC), Opposition Senator Leila M. de Lima cited the reasons why she decided to seek reelection in the upcoming 2022 elections.

De Lima filed her CoC for Senator in the May 2022 elections through her Official Representative and Spokesperson, Atty. Dino de Leon, last Oct. 8.

For one, De Lima said she wants to continue her own fight for freedom and justice, saying that her battle since 2016, when she was unjustly detained, "goes hand in hand" with the Filipino people's struggle for justice and progress.

"Personally, even as I fight my own battle for my freedom, I cannot but also join the struggle of our people against injustice and oppression. I cannot but realize that this is what my whole being is now all about, this struggle to free myself and the Filipino people from this curse that has all but destroyed our nation," she said.

"Ang laban ni Leila ay ang ipaglaban ang Pilipino. Ikinulong man ako at binusalan, patuloy pa rin ang aking pag-alay sa sariling buhay at kalayaan para sa ating bayan. Kung sa sakripisyo at pagsubok, palagay ko po ay akin nang napatunayan ang aking kakayahan na iangat ang kapakanan ng bayan sa pansarili kong interes," she added.

The second reason why she decided to seek re-election, according to De Lima, who serves as Chairperson of the Senate Committee on Social Justice, Welfare and Rural Development, is to further advance her five (5) foremost advocacies, namely, on Social Justice, Human Rights, Criminal Justice Reform, Good Governance and Rule of Law, and National Sovereignty.

Third, De Lima said she also aims to hold Mr. Duterte and his lackeys accountable for the thousands of killings, corruption and other human rights abuses that ran rampant under his administration.

"We must make sure that the Duterte government is made accountable for the complete mess it made out of our economy and our people's security, for the mass murders, treason and many other sins against the people," she said.

Notably, last Sept. 15, the ICC approved a formal probe into the killings as crimes against humanity under Duterte's signature anti-narcotics campaign, including the extrajudicial killings in Davao linked to the Davao Death Squad (DDS).

"Even the Senate has now been awakened to the criminal nature of the Duterte administration as it continues its investigation on what is probably the single most plunderous act in the nation's history, more plunderous than all the Napoles scams combined," De Lima said.

Fourth, De Lima said her goal to continue protecting democracy and the democratic institutions damaged by Duterte also prompted her to seek re-election.

Fifth, the lady Senator from Bicol said she aims to uphold the dignity of the Filipinos and the Philippines.

Highlighting the number Five (5) as representing her surname in relation to her re-election bid, De Lima quipped : "Lima para kay de Lima!"

"Together with VP Leni and under her leadership, I and the other candidates of the Liberal Party and our allies, continue to represent the opposition in this country," she said.

"We present the people an alternative to the criminal government that now governs us in the most perverted sense, an alternative that should have been a continuity administration of peace, stability, and progress in 2016," she added.