MANILA, Philippines – A day after her ouster as Senate justice committee chairperson, neophyte Senator Leila De Lima slammed Senator Alan Peter Cayetano in her privilege speech on Tuesday, September 20.

De Lima took the chance to hit Cayetano’s defense of President Rodrigo Duterte and the rising death toll being associated with the government’s war on drugs. Cayetano, however, was absent from the session.

Cayetano, in an earlier speech, said the country is slowly becoming like Singapore in terms of safety.

“Sa totoo lang po, medyo nabilaukan ako sa sinabi na iyon ni Senator Cayetano kahit nandoon na ako sa katahimikan ng aking opisina. Kasing-tahimik at kasing-ligtas na raw tayo katulad ng Singapore,” De Lima said.

(In truth, I choked when Senator Cayetano said that even if I was already in the confines of my office. We are as quiet and safe as Singapore.)

If it were indeed true that the Philippines is becoming as safe as Singapore, De Lima asked: Do they have killings – at least 30 daily – too?

“Pero kung kasing-tahimik ng Singapore ang Pilipinas, kailangan din bang may bumubulagta na mahigit 30 tao kada araw sa Singapore para sila ay maging ligtas?” the senator asked.

(But if Singapore is as quiet as the Philippines, do they need to have 30 killings each day in Singapore to say they are safe?)

Recounting how a number of children have died in the administration’s fight against drugs, De Lima went on to ask: “Kailangan din bang may mamatay na apat o limang-taong gulang na Singaporean sa kamay ng mga vigilante dahil ang lolo o tatay nila ay mga markadong pusher o adik?”

With the administration’s intense fight to silence criminals and drug suspects, what’s actually attained is only “silence in the cemetery,” the senator added.

“Papunta na po tayo doon, dahil unti-unti ng pinupuno ng administrasyong ito ang ating mga sementeryo sa kanyang pagkibit-balikat kung hindi man tahasang pang-enganyo sa isang marahas na landas tungo sa pagpuksa ng literal sa mga criminal,” she said.

(We are nearing that because this administration is slowly filling our cemeteries by ignoring or indirectly encouraging a dangerous road towards literally killing criminals.)

It was Cayetano who led senators to remove De Lima from her post, saying she was “biased” in the conduct of probe into the spate of extrajudicial killings.

De Lima’s ouster came after she presented witness Edgar Matobato, a self-confessed hitman of the Davao Death Squad, who accused Duterte of ordering killings in Davao City.

State of safety or State of lawlessness?

In hitting Cayetano, De Lima imitated his usual “anecdotal stories” to prove that the country is becoming safer because of the President.

“May nakausap po akong taxi driver noong isang araw. Ang sabi niya ay parang magulo na naman sa bansa natin, katulad ng pagkagulo ng bansa sa ilalim ng ilang mga nakaraang administrasyon. Patayan dito, bombahan doon, mga bangkay na naglipana sa daan,” De Lima said.

(I talked to a taxi driver the other day. The driver said it seemed our country is again dangerous like how difficult it was under past administrations – killings here, bombings there, corpses on the road.)

But she was quick to drop the intentional pretense and said she was only mimicking Cayetano.

“Sa totoo lang po, wala akong nakausap na taxi driver. Ginaya ko lang po ang istilo ng pagkwento ni Senator Cayetano para patunayan niya na ang Pilipinas ay kasing-safe na ng bansang Singapore,” she said.

(In reality, I did not talk to a taxi driver. I’m just mimicking the storytelling style of Senator Cayetano to prove that the Philippines is as safe as Singapore.)

De Lima then went on to question Cayetano for the supposed inconsistencies in his arguments.

While the latter claimed there is a “State of Safety,” De Lima pointed out that the President himself declared a “State of Lawlessness.”

“So are we in a State of Safety, as claimed by Senator Cayetano? Or are we in a State of Lawlessness, as declared by the President?” she asked.

“Safe lawlessness, or lawless safety? Ang tawag po doon sa salitang Inggles ay (In English, we call that) oxymoron, with emphasis on moron,” she exclaimed.

Cayetano has so far not reacted to De Lima’s speech.

In Monday’s speech, he accused De Lima and her allies of “misleading” the international community on the real status of killings and using their connections to the European Union and the United Nations.

The President has cried foul over the supposed interference of the EU and UN and has cursed both international organizations over the issue of human rights. – Rappler.com