Leila de Lima: A season of hope

Dean Tony La Viña

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Senator Leila de Lima should think if it is already time to shed off her LP garb and decide once and for all to stand as the only remaining genuine opposition senator

As to Senator Leila de Lima’s ouster as chairperson of the justice committee, I don’t think De Lima was unnecessarily pilloried when she was practically voted out of the chairmanship of the justice committee under the guise of declaring it vacant.

(Read the first part of this Thought Leaders piece: Leila de Lima: A season for everything)

Indeed, the move left a bad taste in the mouth, with the undeniable political nature of the whole Senate coup bearing Malacanang’s fingerprints. The move of declaring an existing committee vacant was unprecedented. Done within normal conditions it would have been exceptional in itself. When made right after the explosive testimony of a witness accusing the President of mass murder, it becomes malicious and prejudiced.

But, in the end, the investigation on the EJKs and even De Lima herself might have been actually dealt a good hand with her ouster. The investigation under De Lima was already showing some strains beforehand. Her performance was obviously cracking from the incessant assault of Senator Alan Peter Cayetano on her impartiality, justified or not. Her position was already compromised and she was on the defensive. 

The point is Cayetano was able to repeat his accusation several times enough to affect De Lima, to the extent where she was giving Cayetano unnecessary leeway in questioning Matobato until it even felt like he was already badgering and maligning the lowly status of the witness. It also took her some time before calling out Cayetano on his unparliamentary accusation against the LP senators that they were conspiring to overthrow the President and install VP Leni Robredo. She did all this just to show that she was being impartial. De Lima undeniably fell into Cayetano’s trap, something that would not happen to an unaffected chairman.

In the end, it is good that Senator Gordon took over the proceedings, despite his own unconcealed bias against Matobato’s credibility. He is not perfect, but the situation has turned to De Lima’s advantage, since she is now more able to perform her role as an advocate for human rights and justice without having to bother with the appearance of impartiality demanded of a committee chairperson. 

Error in judgment

The only remaining sore point on De Lima’s positioning can be attributed to the fact that she has already become a politician, and is therefore susceptible to compromises and submit to group decisions that are not exactly the best for her individual standing.

In her privilege speech after her ouster as justice committee chair, De Lima clearly drew the line on where she stood vis-a-vis the administration. We were expecting her to bolt the Senate majority. That was not to happen. After drawing the line on what separates her from this administration, De Lima still hedged and ultimately chose, after saying everything, to still remain on the wrong side of that line.

I submit that this is an error in judgment, in the same way that it is  a mistake for the Liberal Party senators, all good people in my view whom I can personally vouch for for their integrity, to stay in the majority coalition.

De Lima’s choices

As I said in my previous articles, De Lima is not perfect. Nobody is. She is a neophyte politician, and is bound to be a little rough on the edges when it comes to the political games in the Senate and the nation as a whole. Her baptism of fire in this arena is one that has not been experienced by any fledgling national political figure, because no political figure after Ninoy Aquino has ever been subjected to an official all-out assault by the whole government machinery upon the orders of its Chief Executive.

It is, to put it simply, Government of the Philippine vs De Lima out there. Regardless of the official titles and designation, she remains to be the leading figure of the only real opposition to the administration, together with some House members like Teddy Baguilat and Edcel Lagman. Not even her LP allies in the Senate would really come close to being called the opposition, for more reasons other than the fact that they remain with the majority coalition.

De Lima should take stock and think if it is already time to shed off her LP garb and decide once and for all to stand as the only remaining genuine opposition senator and thus, the highest opposition figure that can actually match the President’s stature, as she already has in more ways than one. For the good of democracy, De Lima should cross the line she herself drew in her own privilege speech, and once and for all give this country the genuine opposition that it sorely needs in this time of uncertainty.

To be an effective leader, De Lima must also now be an organizer, a convener. She must bring individuals and groups together on shared values and not just a common antipathy against the President. It is important not to make this a personal vendetta against the President, justified as she may be given the way the President and his men has made this personal against her.

Senator De Lima should rise up and be better than them. And she should start by staying away from the discourse about her and the President’s sexuality. That discourse may be funny to some but it is bad for De Lima and Duterte, and more importantly bad for the country.   

Understandably, Senator De Lima is angry at what was being done to her. She has been quoted as saying she will go after those who are persecuting her. It is understood that this will come when political fortunes change in the country, which will happen as sure as day. Indeed, I tell my law students, worried about the rule of law and human rights, not to be overcome by sorrow and despair. There will be accountablity for the massacre of the poor as this is being duly recorded in eloquent words and magnificent images. One can only hope that the reckoning will not be bloody and at that time the rule of law prevails.

Look at Diokno

For De Lima, it would be a grave mistake if she turns bitter with her fate. My wish is that the senator’s humiliation and fall from power will help her be a better human rights lawyer and senator. I understand why she has been quoted that she will not forget and forgive those who have wronged her, but she should learn from the example of Senator Jose W. Diokno. 

Ka Pepe was also a zealous secretary of justice, not unlike Senator De Lima.

He was famous for going after the American businessman Harry Stonehill who was suspected of abetting corruption in the Macapagal administration (Stonehill was eventually deported, purportedly so he would not implicate Macapagal alles). In throwing everything at the American operator, Diokno had a general search warrant issued that clearly violated Stonehill’s right. That warrant was later nullified by the Supreme Court.  Later, Diokno was elected senator and was ordered arrested when martial law was proclaimed. He was detained with Ninoy Aquino for months, including a period of solitary confinement. The prosecutor had now become the prisoner, all his rights disregarded. Yet coming out of that experience did not embitter Ka Pepe. Instead he rose up to the occasion and became the greatest human rights lawyer that ever lived in this country. Because of his martial law experience, never again would Ka Pepe justify or accept any justification to violate any human right.

I hope Senator De Lima would see that too and when she is in power again, as certain as it will be in the carousel of Philippine politics, she will remember that lesson.

In this cold and dark season for Senator De Lima, she can choose to be a leader of the opposition against the Duterte administration. In this season, she can choose to be a Diokno and commit herself fully to human rights advocacy for all, brooking no derogation of rights for everyone and, yes, that includes her persecutors.

If she does both, maybe we will get this country earlier to a season of hope. – Rappler.com

The author is former dean of the Ateneo School of Government.

 

 

 

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