Press Release
February 17, 2017

STATEMENT OF SEN. LEILA M. DE LIMA ON THE DOJ FILING OF CRIMINAL CASES AGAINST HER

As expected, the DOJ today filed criminal charges against me with the RTC of Muntinlupa. My lawyers are already on top of the situation and will be filing the corresponding motions as soon as the cases are raffled to a specific branch.

I have long prepared myself to be the first political prisoner under this regime, because the criminal charges and prosecution are nothing less than a politically motivated act by the Duterte regime to clamp down on any vocal opposition against its support for a policy of EJK in dealing with suspected criminals.

Perhaps my looming imprisonment based on false charges filed against me by the DOJ, while Janet Lim Napoles' release is being supported by the OSG, is the wakeup call that our country needs. Change has, indeed, come, and it has come to devour our sense of justice and morality--where right is turned to wrong, and wrong is made right.

If the loss of my freedom is the price I have to pay for standing up against the butchery of the Duterte regime, then it is a price I am willing to pay. But they are mistaken if they think my fight ends here. It has only begun.

This is the kind of vindictive politics that we only expect from this regime. Despite these fascist methods employed by this fascist regime, we will continue to fight this battle and wage our own war for human rights and democracy. In the end, justice will prevail and we will be vindicated.

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