Leila de Lima is a rock of integrity
Analysis and Opinion
By Joe America
Most of us wasted a year or more in a kind of flexible confinement during covid. It was called home.
Leila de Lima spent seven years of her life being punished for having integrity. She spent it in a small room, writing, reading, reflecting, praying, and feeding stray cats. She’d get visitors now and then who shared her pain, and thereby softened it. When she emerged, she was neither beaten nor enraged. She was determined.
I think she is the heart of Philippine modern politics, for her integrity, and for her determination.
She was betrayed by her colleagues when she was a senator, before the fake charges were levied by that lowlife human DOJ Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre. She was kicked out of her Justice chairmanship for getting too hot on the trail of President Duterte’s murderous crimes. Who voted to oust her, thereby stamping themselves as political gamers opposed to integrity? Senators Pimentel, A. Cayetano, Zubiri, C. Villar, Gatchalian, Villanueva, Binay, Ejercito, Legarda, Poe, Angara, Sotto, Lacson, Honasan, Gordon, and Pacquiao.
Gordon became Justice Chair and folded to Duterte. A folding chair, for sure. Enabling the killing of thousands, no check, no balance.
De Lima filed cases with the Ombudsman and Supreme Court challenging Aguirre’s arrest order. Both rejected her appeals. No checks, no balances. Thousands dead.
Leila de Lima is free now. She has set about reconstructing her life. She is now Spokesperson for the Liberal Party, teaching law at De Salle University, and running for a seat in the House of Representatives under the partylist Mamamayang Liberal.
She is also a resource person for the House investigations into the Duterte drug war. In one hearing, she was seated next to Duterte. Asked if she wished to be re-seated, she declined, saying she was uncomfortable but not afraid. Duterte pretended she was not there. Sticking needles in her even knowing that he had caused her great pain.
What a jerk (language edited for family reading).
I find it hard to define integrity in the Philippines. Here, loyalty to family and friends seems often to be a higher value than loyalty to country. The strings of impunity and entitlement run like a spider’s netting across all things Filipino. Look at how many of the senators who betrayed De Lima are of “name” families, guided, not by principle, but by favor. They were on a string directly to Duterte no matter how much they claim otherwise. Some are still senators, or running to return.
Dick Gordon decided that Duterte was a bad man and left the Senate. Slow learner.
I use the word integrity to mean loyalty to the Constitution and the Judeo Christian values that underpin it. On that definition, Leila de Lima is a rock. The heart of what the Philippines SHOULD be politically, but is not.
She is lawyer who lived her oaths and was punished for it, by leaders who prize self-dealing over the Constitution and their own oaths.
I think it matters, and Leila de Lima matters. Possibly more today than when she was a senator seven years ago.
When she enters the room, courage enters the room. Conscience enters the room. Accountability enters the room, a well-deserved insult to the cowards who betrayed her, and the Philippines.
Most of them have no will to change. But maybe voters are ready. Maybe they are tired of jerks and being treated as pawns to self-dealing political players..
Leila de Lima is a rock of integrity. She represents the determination that Filipinos will need if they want a government that works for them.
__________________________
Cover photo from ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights article “On 4th anniversary of detention, regional lawmakers renew call for release of Philippine Senator de Lima“.
The Society of Honor by Joe America 
I hope and pray that she lives long a life time to be with us! Thank you Leila!
I hope so, too, botskie. Sonny Trillanes was jailed way back during Arroyo, got elected senator from jail, and persists as a needle against Duterte and corruption. Leila de Lima has clout, too. We need it.
Brave and principled woman….that’s Leila de Lima to me.
Yes indeed, arlene. Her stint as Chairwoman of the Human Rights Commission gave her hard eyes, I think. Realities that most of us do not face or see.
I apologize for this comment
Iam sorry but I cannot comment on my uncle BoyAguiire.
I reached out to him when my dad was in the hospital a couple of years ago.
But this is about Leila De Lima and thanks to kuya Wil, I learned that she reads the blog.
I still admire her convictions and what she is fighting for and wish her more power.
We aren’t accountable for our uncles. Two of my four were nuts.
I just learned that the INC is supporting Sara. My direct uncle, the brother of my dad is a higher up. Oh well.
INC is sucking up to pbbm, methink. fully supportive of him, texting lawmakers not to impeach sara. no respect for the due process. behaving like a dictator and telling lawmakers what he wants done.
he had better open his eyes, there are now three impeachment filed vs his vp. he does not want distraction kuno. only the dead are not distracted and are left to rest in peace, unless the dead in libingan is exhumed by order of his capricious vp.
maybe he cannot handle distraction, has no take down menus and defaults, even though life is full of distractions and we prepare for eventualities. like when there were glitches in the vote counting machines and plan b was activated, and pbbm won the election big time, with near impossible bigger margin!
ksmbahay, lots of perspicacity in your words. Can’t help but compare between scions of Ninoy & FM, senior – PNoy & FM, junior respectively. From my vantage point, PNoy growing up with Ninoy/Cory household in exile seems to have sponged in lots of political wisdom from an ebullient dad & a homebound but savvy mom; on the other side, PBBM always in the shadow of a highly gifted FM (dad) & beauty queen mom … – do the math. I admit using stereotypes; I got no special inside intel.
thanks sonny. it was said that when ex pres noy was a young buck in boston, siya yong tagapagsaing ng kanin, it was his job to cook rice for the family and was their designated driver, easy enough to do. americans and filipinos both drive on the right hand side of the street.
pbbm has a sheltered life and like his mom, is a party boy. he studied overseas in UK though it could not have been easy for him. offsprings of middle eastern and european royalties also studied in UK and they were far more knowledgeable in playing football and polo, both fave sport of the rich and famous. I doubt if pbbm is good enough horse rider to play polo, or skillful enough to play footfall. if he did not fit in, does not matter really. his friends in UK were mostly de kalidad na mga filipinos from very wealthy families and cronies of his family.
those halcyon days are long gone and he is president now. he has got to step up and be the man the country needs. the buck stops with him, the nation’s problems rest on his shoulders. and he has a plethora of able minded assistants to help him with the job. he can delegate authority but cannot abrogate responsibility.
Got go use the dictionary again Uncle
I guess I was nor perispatic
Ha Ha. That’s the nearest single word I could think of to describe ‘yung comment the ksmbahay. Hindi pa ‘ko sigurado kung tama. idouble check ko. 🙂
Tama ako, Karl! It was exactly the word I was looking for.the quality of having a ready insight into things; shrewdness:
“the perspicacity of her remarks”the quality of having a ready insight into things; shrewdness:
“the perspicacity of her remarks” sabi ng diksyunaryo.
paumanhin, ksmbahay. 🙂
I wish there are more like Gian in the INC who decide for themselves.
I think INC is just calling for what I’m calling for, karl. Which is stop the witch-hunt, get back to work. and just settle all this come 2028.
Everyone should be calling for the same thing. Do all this crap in 2028.
p.s.—- though that sedition and dead man’s switch/sicario case is interesting. i hope that one pushes thru as criminal case (though Inday Sara will win). but its just interesting as a case, i’d like to read the arguments for that one.
“Loyalty to the Constitution and the Judeo-Christian values that underpin it”.. well, in a country where people cherry-pick Bible quotes to place on their Facebook pages, what can really be expected? I wouldn’t be surprised if many there see an affair with one’s driver as worse than killing addicts. But good to still see some hope.
PiE, I can’t help but think that the Constitution should be owned by everybody as like the national worldview complemented by the Catechism for personal implementation.
Yes, it is ideally a covenant upon which a nation is based.
Unfortunately, a lot of stuff once taken seriously seems to have been hollowed out into mere symbolism.
symbolism or not, so glad we have the constitution to fall back on. but if the president have his way, he is going to sidestep the constitution and deny lawmakers the right to correct the mistake done by voters for electing an official not suited to the job via the process of impeachment. he is apparently bogged down by so many national problems, and wants all attention focused on him alone. isnt he needy, daing ng daing, always whining. stymied by all the problems that goes with the presidency he had so crave.
that is why lawmakers wants to give him a functioning vice president who has his back and supportive of him, in collaboration with him and help him solves all those problems. but the president does not have the foresight see it. cannot see what lawmakers are trying to do. refusing the gift. no clarity of vision.
Ksmbahay, in an ideal world of lawmakers complementing the president what you say will work; yet in the case of our country celebrity has co-opted the lawmakers’ ideals with the resulting obfuscation of the electorate’s logical clarity of analysis.
lawmakers have to put their feet down coz the president cannot.
“… cannot see what lawmakers are trying to do. refusing the gift. no clarity of vision.”
that is why lawmakers wants to give him a functioning vice president who has his back and supportive of him, in collaboration with him and help him solves all those problems.
PBBM did have this in VP Sara, then they attacked her. submarined, football attempt.
Now PBBM looks weak, between rock & hard place. very definition of a dilemma, two lemmas. fork in road.
And lawmakers who he ordered to leave it all behind, are resisting his wishes. makes him look weak now.
Moral of story: loyalty goes both ways. once severed cannot be reconnected.
But PBBM also said Never Say Never. and VP Sara has a quick smile now. her last press con behind Veterans Memorial in a summer dress
no less.
Go to her now, PBBM.
🤣😂🤣
You are neglecting to mention how the whole thing exploded. Audit revealed multi-million peso abuses of fund management. The House wanted to ask a few questions. The VP could not answer, and became hostile and uncooperative. Ask why 5 times. Not 1 or 2. Get to the root of the illness, rather than complain about the symptoms of the disease.
That’s like the eye of Sauron, Joe. it was focused on Inday Sara only after Liza’s “bad shot”. thus the act of focusing the gaze was by design. why I said attack. remember no questions asked Inday Sara was given that budget. then the eye of Sauron gaze, moved by Liza/Martin.
As to not answer, she said it was under COA. and now thats done. she passed it. sure they still can ask about the pseudonyms but its under confidentiality. which returns us to Congress members why they okayed budget twice 2022 and 2023. before buking.
cause and effect is clear, prior to my beloved’s intransigence, Joe. then came obstinance. Do Congressmembers have the right to divulge pseudonyms, sure. but every single one of them has to answer why they approved them in the first place.
There were quid pro quos pre- Liza/Martin, as there are new quid pro quos from Liza/Martin now, Joe. there should be hearings and impeachments about that too. like Popoy said.
If a guy had an affair, it would demonstrate virility. If a woman has one, it demonstrates loose morals. Conceptually, and morally, it’s a man’s world and, in those terms, voters are impossibly ignorant and emotional.
True til now even if women outnumber men.
I think most women have no problem with virile men. after all it was napoleon who said, not now josephine. I have a headache.
what women object to the most is blatant show of misogyny.
This takes us back to Olfactory Ethics, kb. and the politics of smell. after all it was napoleon who said, not now josephine. And I’m sure josephine got Napoleon back for that intransigence.
de lima has not been seen to be remorseful for her illicit affair even though she is in good terms with the driver’s kids, and even build them a nice house for them to live on. she has not been seen to have humbly walked on her knees in church, wearing sack clothe and with tears streaming down her face, confessing and ardently asking forgiveness for her transgression, and humbly accepted her penance given. she has not been seen to be repentant, or pictured in social media being blessed by a priest and welcomed back to the fold even though cbcp has been most welcoming of her acquittal.
in philippines there is much need for showboating and to be seen far and wide. failure to launch this, and people will form judgement one way or another.
we all know that in our society there are different rules for both men and women. and those who knew this and play along, go a long way.
Are there swingers in the Philippines, kb?
I dont know.
p.s.—- I have a bunch of t-shirts with pineapples also hawaiian shirt that I purposely wear in malls, and I have still yet to be invited to a party. though i’ve never tried that pineapple in a shopping cart idea.
Nathaniel Hawthorne esque Scarlet Letter ish days are gone even on this sometimes conservative mostly catholic nation.
But I think feminism is more empowered than its prominence I the 1960s and 70s…. what stopped this? Reagan and Thatcher? (I dunno)
feminism and empowerment sucks big time in the philippines. where were both the feminists and the empowered when delima was besieged!
Terrific critique of the need to punish people who live with dignity, and the double standard by which people live.
Well, “how dare she even think she is less dirrrrty than all of us”, said Juan.
“Well”, Pedro answered, “she got her just desserts for making us feel ashamed of ourselves”.
Yes, that’s the way it works.
a smart woman would know that both the likes of juan and pedro exist, and will acknowledge them both if not by her words, by her action: demonstrate once so it will not be demonstrated again and have it recorded for posterity, a point of reference just in case.
she has the wherewithal to bridge both the upper crust whose morals maybe even worst of the worst, and the millions of lowly juans and perdros out there spreading forest fire. well seasoned and well reasoned, de lima even humbly forgave representative roman for not only being quiet and holding her tongue but also for standing by and looking the other way while de lima was besieged alone.
Sticking needles in her even knowing that he had caused her great pain.
There was a hint I saw when DU30 made an effort to “throw” that mic stand at Trillanes, wherein I guess D5 seated next to him thought it was headed towards her, so she made like she was about to clobber DU30. I was cheering for her to do it. but the moment passed, cuz she coulda said self defense, your honors, I take full responsibility at the act as well as the policy, as I thought he was going to throw that mic at me. And it would totally be legal. since that mic woulda constituted death and/or serious injuries on her person, if uncontested. And She woulda used DU30 shoot first and ask questions later, Joe.
Great article Joe. But why do you no longer believe that Leni can still be president?
I see no indications that she wants to compete for the job. Competing is different than working at rallies. It means organizing an effective campaign in all its elements, recruiting mayors, working big cities, and grinding on social media. Early. Like now. Not coming in six month before the election and running herself to exhaustion.
Are you Gabby D?
I just saw Conclave last night, and thought about this blog on De Lima, Joe.
I’m trying to look for the complete homily online that Cardinal Lawrence (Ralph Fiennes character) did, but seems behind pay walls. theres the bits and pieces of it above.
Pride in one’s humility was a big theme in that movie. the dramatization of which when Fiennes votes for himself was really well done.
p.s.—- only movie I know that got to mentione Simony. lol. great movie. The Two Popes still the best though. in this genre. but the politicking. was magnificent. cuz sublety.
Exegesis of PSALM 22
To achieve a true understanding of Psalm 22, it would appear
necessary to embark on a verse-by-verse exegesis of the text.
Psalm 22 will be examined through the lens of the truncated
outline listed in the above “Structure of Psalm 22” section—
laments in verses 1-18; prayer in verses 19-21; and
thanksgiving in verses 22-31.
VERSE 1-2—My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me? Why
are You so far from helping Me, And from the words of My
groaning? O My God, I cry in the daytime, but You do not hear;
And in the night season and am not silent. The opening lament
highlights “the sufferer’s personal relationship with God is in
doubt because of God’s inaction.” The idea that God has
abandoned his servant appears totally foreign to Scripture,
which boasts of Yahweh’s constant presence. It is more the
sufferer’s feelings than reality that God has abandoned him. “It
is a cry of disorientation, for the protective presence of God
seems to have been withdrawn.”
My additional comment to this exegesis is: It is enough that the crucified God-Man could only painfully recite the first verse of Psalm 22 in order that hearers need to see for themselves that the whole psalm is messianic and realize that he is in direct conversation with God the Father thru this composition of King David centuries before.
This is great exposition on said quote, sonny. thanks!
So in the movie there were 3 other cardinals vying for popehood. one more liberal. the other more conservative. and one from Africa more about power. then Fiennes character, which said homily fits him cuz he was about doubt. the push and pull of the liberal vs. conservative Cardinals were obvious. The African cardinal could’ve been superimposed with say a Filipino cardinal and it would’ve worked similarly imho. that’s the movie. but your take that its Jesus throwing a hint to his audience is a new explanation i’ve not heard of. added dimension.
but the etymology is interesting for me too, sonny.
I don’t think its the same word, as quoted above what Jesus uttered. let me look into this further. i’m sure the meaning is the same. but those are two different words, aramaic vs. hebrew, cuz the arabic is close (actually the same) to the aramaic. thus interesting. I’m sure Jesus knew his Old Testament, but I don’t think he was quoting.
so the way the verb is conjugated, added the you (Ta) past tense and the me at the end w/ ‘ni’. is all the same.
But notice they are two different words. not the same.
LC, I claim very trivial knowledge of Greek, Hebrew, Aramaic. I would admit to more about Latin grammar & syntax. I do try to follow the hermeneutics in all cases. This being said, I will add when it comes to the Bible some points I keep in mind: 1) slinging isolated verses to make a case is not generally the way to go 2) the Bible is a library, not a book 3) the Bible can best be understood as a record of salvation history (soteriology) initially for the Jews & Christians but ultimately for all of mankind.
Addressing the present times, there is no longer wide disagreements regarding Bible translations; hence I use Concordance rarely. (The Jehovah Witness Bible is the exception)
I still thank you for bringing this up, sonny. as it made my Sunday more fruitful. I had to think about this, which I’d not really thought about prior. So your bringing this up I’m sure was divine inspiration or Jung’s synchronicity, cuz I love this stuff. Keep it coming, sonny. I need more of this.
okay, sonny. i’ve watched more youtube videos on this Psalm 22 and Why have you forsaken me? -Jesus.
So there is consensus that the Hebrew and the Aramaic are two different words.
According to this above, verb conjugation with ‘you’ past tense and ‘me’ subject of verb, this occurs twice only.
So the Jewish Bible is broken down to the 5 books, then Prophets, then the Writings (below), plus other less important books.
So why quote Psalms using Aramaic is the first question.
Then second is did Jews back then understand Psalms as now (eg. as something prophetic)?
So for me, Jesus quoting from Psalm 22 doesn’t work.
As interpretation.
Because for the whole scapegoat symbolism to occur, the Agony has to be real. which means the suffering has to be real, meaning that doubt and or state of being forsaken has to be real.
And Him quoting from one of the Poetic books during this Agony. might make sense retroactively, but I think it diminishes the suffering thus the sacrifice.
in order that hearers need to see for themselves that the whole psalm is messianic
To me it makes more sense, and more powerful, to understand said pleading to God as something directly addressed to God and not to his audience below the cross, sonny.
So my interpretation is and i’m no believer and theres a few in youtube that kinda agree with said interpretation, is that this is part and parcel of being sacrificed.
But in the scapegoat ritual theres actually two goats, one to be offered to God and slaughtered; and the other goat to be imbued with the community’s sins and made to wander , as goat to Azazel.
Jesus was both. God-Man, per your description. As Logos he was both. so Jesus was the two goats, one to God and one to Azazel. the part of him that was to go to Azazel as part of the Agony truly felt this forsakenness (I think, thus not a quote but actually talking to God). the part to God was resurrected.
The one to Azazel, was the part where all our sins went. BUT…
remember per Origen , Azazel would still be part of God. not separate.
Regarding the sacrificial lamb/goat, I came across a spiritual writer either poring over old writings or a privileged visit to where the immolation of the animal offering is performed, the writer noted that animal was cut up such that its whole body was spread-eagle tied/fastened to a crossbeam for the ceremonial burning/offering, like, voila – crucified victim. the typology to Christ as sacrificial offering to God is complete to a “T”