De Lima urges voters to choose leaders who will uphold human rights

Detained senator Leila de Lima on Friday (Dec. 10) urged voters to choose leaders who would
prioritize human rights in next year’s elections.

In a statement, de Lima, who is running for reelection, said voters should be wary of candidates
“who falsely believe that discarding human rights will improve public order.”

“Let us choose a leadership that will put human rights in the front and center of its platform,”
she said in her statement, which marked the 73rd anniversary of the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights.

De Lima, a former justice secretary and chairperson of the Commission on Human Rights, is
seeking another six-year term in the Senate under the opposition presidential bet, Vice
President Maria Leonor Robredo.

The lawmaker has been in detention since 2017 on illegal drug charges that she claims were
fabricated to silence her criticism of President Rodrigo Duterte’s deadly war on drugs.

De Lima said the theme of World Human Rights Day, “Reducing Inequalities, Advancing Human
Rights,” was timely especially in the Philippines where inequalities have worsened under the
Duterte regime.

“This is highlighted even more by the current regime’s culture of violence and impunity and
bungled pandemic response, where the disparity and divide between the rich and the poor, the
minority and the powerful, has been more glaring and cogent,” she said. #