De Lima vs Duterte, Round 8
Analysis and Opinion
By Joe America
Leila De Lima has always been for justice and human rights. Rodrigo Duterte has always been for himself, brutally. The two are like Batman and The Joker, a classic battle between good and evil. We have watched it play out like a time-lapse boxing match for 15 years now.
Round 1: De Lima, Chairwoman of the Human Rights Commission, identified and spoke publicly of the Davao Death Squad murders occurring in Davao City where Duterte was Mayor. That was way back in 2010.
Round 2: As Secretary of Justice under President Aquino, De Lima handled the Manila Bus Massacre case, INC leadership dispute, continued investigation into the Davao murders, and other matters. DDS began their merciless fake-news attacks on her as she dealt with prison drug rings late in her term. INC was also hostile to her.
Round 3: Duterte was elected President in 2016 and De Lima was elected Senator. She continued investigating Duterte as Chair of the Senate’s Justice and Human Rights Committee. Duterte fought back, deploying the Justice Department to fake drug cases against her and using DDS to smear her with fake lurid sex tapes. The members of the Senate, in an historically low moment, removed her as Chair of the Committee. Senators Pacquiao and Gordon were prominent in the effort, but 16 senators shared in this underhanded treatment, including today’s Senate President Tito Sotto who claimed she was mudslinging.
Round 4: De Lima was arrested and jailed on fake drug charges concocted by then Secretary of Justice Vitaliano Aguirre. She spent seven years in jail as the courts shamefully kicked her cases down the road like a tin can owned by President Duterte, a low moment for the courts in the Philippines.
Round 5: Duterte left office in 2022 and De Lima quickly secured acquittal in all three fake cases against her. She was out, to take up where she left off. Duterte was on the run, in effect, as the victims of his murders gave evidence to the International Criminal Court.
Round 6: Duterte was sent to the ICC and De Lima was elected to the House of Representatives. She is now pursuing investigations into corruption in the Philippines, among other matters. Duterte’s daughter, Vice President Sara Duterte, had been impeached by the House for corrupt acts but a strange Supreme Court intrusion, and a pro-Duterte cabal in the Senate, blocked the case from going to trial. Former Senate President Escudero led this effort.
Round 7: The Senate was upended September 8 as a group of 15 senators elected Senator Sotto as President of the Senate. Nine senators were relegated to an awkward group of apparently corrupt China and Duterte lovers. Rep. De Lima and the Senator Sotto are now on the same side, that of honesty, justice, and the Philippines.
Round 8: Our expectation is that a stronger measure of justice will returns to the Philippines thanks to the moral leadership, courage, and persistence of Leila De Lima. We’ll see if DOJ, NBI, PNP, LGUs, and the Courts can follow suit, or if they are captured by crimes of impunity, too.
Of course The Society of Honor has always been on De Lima’s side. Will Villanueva interviewed her several times, including while she was in jail (refer to the Villanueva Interviews tab above). She asked me to do the Forward to her second e-book, penned while she was in jail. I was happy to do that.
It’s a new day in the Philippines. Lady Justice is at work.
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Cover photo from 2024 ABS-CBN article “‘Kaduwagan’: De Lima slams Duterte’s ‘punch’ gesture.”
The Society of Honor by Joe America 
The figurative or symbolic lady justice maybe blind but LDL or LD5 can see everything and that is perfect.
She has good vision for sure.
maybe kuya will is right: someone higher up there is looking after de lima. she survived a direct attempt on her life when taken hostage at camp crame in october 2022. dragged out of detention cell, blind folded and hogtied, then dragged again back to detention cell when the hostage taker’s escape route was blocked by armed kapolisan, de lima was certain of being killed, and in the end, surrendered all to god: thy will be done!
and like the stray camp crame cats that become de lima’s daily companions, cats having 9 lives, de lima did not only get another lease of life, but also got release from jail, won election and got a seat in congress.
and still, de lima has to pass another hurdle when court of appeals ordered her drug case be reopened and filed anew. and again, de lima trumps up, when dept of justice steps in and court of appeals was told to honor de lima acquittal and release with finality.
principled, just and honorable, that’s de lima. her faculties intact, whereas duterte is counting big on being found to be mentally unstable and mentally impaired, just to dodge justice at the hague.
Dramatic representation of the difference between the two. Thank you for that.
My associations to Aguirre had been scrutinized hate by Chempo and Edgar.
We can not choose our relatives.Sec Aguirre still has beenn nice to me even with me telling him that I am not DDS unlike my cousins from Davao who approached him during the wake and internment of my dad.
Sorry to bring this up again and again
When he eulogized my dad, he called my dad peacemaker because he wanted to go between him and Sen Trillanes. Well, that did not work.
Well, we are all dealt cards and must play them. So no use wishing for a different hand. My three uncles on my father’s side were certifiably nuts. I don’t know how he got the sane gene or I got this twitch in my neck, lol.
All we can do is have a poker face
Haha, yes, that’s the way to go!
Moving forward, I like Cong ChelDiokno’s long overdue clamour for full disclosure of companies divestedd or not by congressmen. All he construction, mining fishing, casinos interests should be made public.
SALN please.
I think incoming Speaker Dy, if that is final now, will be under a lot of pressure to require release of SALNs.
We will see, Sara is making her presence felt in both Houses