De Lima joins virtual launch of 'Bedans for Leni,' says 2022 polls will be 'fight of our lifetime'

Opposition Senator Leila M. de Lima urged the Filipino public to stand in defiance against a pseudo-dictatorship and the return of another by joining her fellow Bedans in rallying support for Vice President Leni Robredo's presidential bid for the 2022 National Elections.

In her message cum love letter read by one of her legal counsels and fellow Bedan, Atty. Filibon "Boni" Tacardon, during the Virtual Grand Launch of Bedans for Leni, De Lima said Robredo, a leader with a heart for people, is the country's hope for a better government.

"Today, my dear fellow Bedans, together with thousands, nay, millions who clamor for genuine change, we respond once again to the call - to support the woman who with extraordinary grace, defied deeply-seated misogyny, every sexist innuendo, every insult and threat, to blossom and rise as the true and ideal leader that we deserve, especially amid this pandemic," she said.

"Nabuhay ang ating pag-asa para sa isang makatarungan at makataong liderato. Tila unti-unti ay nahahawi ang kadilimang bumalot sa ating bayan sa loob ng halos anim na taon. Kakaibang sigla ang dulot ng pag-asang hatid ng isang lider na may puso," she added.

The virtual launching, held last Nov. 27 and was organized by a group of San Beda University alumni called "Bedans for Leni", is part of the activities to show support for Robredo's candidacy.

De Lima, a graduate of San Beda College of Law who also worked as a professor in San Beda Law for several subjects from 1986 to 1994, said that the only way to defeat tyrants "is for those who have the least among us as their anchor, to lead and bear political power."

"Tyrants will continue to wage war against united dissent, as they try to reverse the victories that we have gained," she said.

"This election will be the fight of our lifetime, as we stand in defiance against a pseudo-dictatorship and the return of another. As I always say, we have all been given only one life to live; one country to love and defend; and one humanity that we all belong to and must respect and protect. And so we fight and we fight more," she said.

Relating it to her personal experience as the most prominent political prisoner under the Duterte regime, De Lima said people's collective struggle is the same powerful force that is now rallying behind Robredo.

"Though I believe that I always had the courage to fight for those who cannot fight for themselves, I now experience first-hand just how excruciatingly difficult it is to advocate for yourself without surrendering the commitment to fight for others - in relative isolation, with only handwritten words to call out those who continue to desecrate our basic freedoms and the rule of law," she shared.

"I now fully understand the depth and power of collective struggle. This same powerful force is now rallying behind our VP Leni...Maraming salamat sa tiwala at pagmamahal," she added.

A recorded message of VP Robredo was played during the event. Other speakers in the event, meanwhile, were Vice Presidential Aspirant and Senator Kiko Pangilinan and other Senatoriables, to wit: Senator Risa Hontiveros, former Sen. Antonio Trillanes III, and former Rep. Teddy Baguilat.