
BIKOLANA POWER Former Vice President Leni Robredo and former Sen. Leila de Lima, who’s campaigning right here as a Mamamayang Liberal party-list nominee, face supporters and the media in Naga Metropolis on Saturday. —Contributed photograph
NAGA CITY, CAMARINES SUR, Philippines — Because the Duterte household, attorneys and supporters cry out for “due course of,” former Vice President Leni Robredo had one factor to say: Consider what former Sen. Leila de Lima went via.
At a press convention on Saturday in Naga Metropolis with De Lima, a fellow Bikolana and a Mamamayang Liberal get together listing candidate, Robredo mentioned she couldn’t assist however evaluate ex-President Rodrigo Duterte’s scenario with De Lima’s seven-year ordeal in jail over trumped-up drug expenses which had been all later dismissed.
READ: Palace: Justice rolling down after Duterte faces ICC’s ‘honest’ pre-trial
Accountability, justice
Duterte—who for six years mocked and boxed out Robredo from his administration—is now below the custody of the Worldwide Legal Courtroom (ICC) and might be the primary Asian head of state to be tried by the tribunal for crimes towards humanity.
“This can be a first step towards accountability, justice—and De Lima went via it too,” mentioned Robredo. “All this discuss every thing that’s occurring, about due course of, about how unfair every thing is, I couldn’t assist however preserve going again to her (De Lima’s) scenario.”
Far cry from Crame
“All I need to say is that she endured all of that as a result of she adopted due course of. She confronted the fees regardless of how troublesome and unfair these expenses had been, even when it was apparent political harassment,” Robredo mentioned.
The previous vice chairman famous that the ICC’s detention facility in Scheveningen was a far cry from Camp Crame custodial heart the place De Lima was held.
“Duterte has entry to a pc, his residing situations are okay, he can freely roam round, he has conjugal and household visits,” Robredo mentioned.
“This was not the case for Senator Leila. Her room was so small, so sizzling, there was no air con. She didn’t have entry to a pc although she was working as a senator on the time.”
De Lima virtually died after being held captive by an Abu Sayyaf inmate identified for beheading hostages in October 2022, Robredo mentioned.