Trillanes ‘more motivated’ to expose ‘plunderer Duterte’

February 24, 2017 09:48am

Senator Leila de Lima's arrest might send a "chilling effect" to other critics of the Duterte administration, but not to Senator Antonio Trillanes IV.

On the contrary, Trillanes said he is "more motivated" to expose President Rodrigo Duterte "for being [the] plunderer and mass murderer that he truly is."

"The primary objective of the illegal arrest of Sen. De Lima is to send a chilling message to the political opposition and critics that they could be next," he said in a statement after De Lima's arrest.

"Well, the effect to me is exactly the opposite. I am now motivated more than ever to expose him for being a plunderer and mass murderer that he truly is," Trillanes added.

Trillanes earlier accused Duterte of having P2.2 billion in bank deposits from 2006 to 2015. He also initiated a Senate probe on Duterte's alleged involvement in the so-called Davao Death Squad (DDS) when he was still mayor of Davao City.

Akbayan Senator Risa Hontiveros also believes that De Lima's arrest would send a chilling message that political dissent under this administration would not be tolerated and all those who would oppose would be destroyed.

"Hindi si Senator De Lima ang sinuko ngayon kundi ang demokrasya. Sinuko ng gobyerno ang demokrasya ng bayan. Laway lang ang puhunan, pwede ka nang kasuhan at ipakulong ng gobyerno," Hontiveros said in a separate statement.

(It was not Senator De Lima who was surrendered today, but democracy. The government surrendered the country's democracy. Just through mere talks, the government may charge and jail you.)

READ: Arrest lauded as a 'victory,' hit as 'political persecution'

De Lima's arrest, she said, also demonstrated the government's "two-faced sense of justice."

"The government filed cases against Senator De Lima, yet, it will acquit pork barrel mastermind Janet Lim Napoles from the Benhur Luy illegal detention case," Hontiveros said.

"President Duterte is hell-bent on sending our colleague to jail but the likes of Peter Lim and Jack Lam continue to evade the long arm of the law. Dubious drug charges were filed against the senator while the cases of real high-profile drug traffickers will be dropped."

Hontiveros then called on the people to exercise vigilance and "to publicly express their strong disapproval of the blatant abuse of our justice system for political persecution."

De Lima's arrest based on baseless accusations was also an "outright political persecution" and a "travesty of the country's justice system," she said.

"It is a throwback to an authoritarian past. It highlights the slow death of our democracy and rule of law," the senator added. CDG/rga

READ: De Lima: It's an honor to be jailed for what I'm fighting for