De Lima blames killings on damaged image of PH

Senator Leila De Lima claimed yesterday that she shouldn’t be blamed if the country is being cast in a negative light especially before the international community. She insists that President Rodrigo Duterte was the one behind her ouster as chair of the Senate committee on justice and human rights.

Photo from Philstar

The committee is currently investigating the spate of killings that are believed to be drug-related. a self-confessed hit man has come forward as a witness and accused the president of his involvement in over 1,000 cases of killings in Davao City during his term as the mayor.

However, in Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano’s speech yesterday, he accused De Lima that her panel was aimed to destroy Duterte and that she was “wittingly and unwittingly” tainting the country’s image in the eyes of foreigners.


“At the outset, they (Duterte allies) have been trying to stop the hearings on extrajudicial killings. I repeat: I’m not destroying the image of the Senate and the country; what truly destroys us is the continued killings in the country,” the female senator said in Filipino.

“These (killings) have worsened because of certain actions and statements of top officials that seem to encourage the setting aside of human rights in the fight against illegal drugs,” she added.

According to De Lima, the number of people who were summarily killed has reached 2,000. She walked on out on Cayteano while he was delivering his privilege speech. 

After the incident, she disclosed to the reporters that she couldn’t stand listening to the baseless accusations and rude treatment being thrown at her.

“I left in protest to the insidious plot to silence me in our search for the truth behind the killings in the name of the campaign against drugs,” De Lima said. Two hours after the speech and a closed-door caucus, she was ousted as chair of the justice committee. ASCS

Source: Philstar

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