Members of the Philippine Opposition especially those from the Liberal Party are still clinging to whatever glimmer of hope they see of a chance of bringing the current government down. Some of them have expressed support for the proposed bill by two US lawmakers to ban from entering the US Philippine government officials who are involved in what they say is “politically-motivated” detention of Senator Leila De Lima. Never mind that De Lima’s cases are being processed in Philippine courts, not US courts and her cases and detention do not affect Americans directly or indirectly. Simply put, it is quite baffling why any US lawmaker would try to meddle in a matter outside of their jurisdiction. But even more baffling is why any Filipino, especially lawmakers like Senator Kiko Pangilinan and the current Vice President Leni Robredo, would think this is okay.
Good to see the Senate Appropriations Committee pass my amendment with @SenatorLeahy today to prohibit entry to any Philippine Government Officials involved in the politically motivated imprisonment of Filipina Senator Leila de Lima in 2017. We must #FreeLeilaNow.
— Senator Dick Durbin (@SenatorDurbin) September 26, 2019
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Those who think this is okay better be careful about their statements showing support for the US lawmakers meddling in Philippine affairs. They are essentially giving up the country’s sovereignty. They should also think about scenarios where they have to jail their own rivals who they accuse of violating the law. Would they support the same meddling? The problem with the Opposition is they are hypocrites who lack foresight. They think the end justifies the means. As long as they get their way – free De Lima and embarrass President Rodrigo Duterte – it’s all good. They are scraping the bottom of the barrel though. The latest survey shows that public support for the President is still at 80 percent. That’s too high for them to consider mobilising their weapon – another people power revolt to oust Duterte.
It seems the members of the Opposition have this belief that if there are foreigners against Duterte, then they must be right. This is proof that some Filipinos still harbour a strong colonial mentality. This is also proof that they are inconsistent.
Some Duterte critics even compare this move by these US lawmakers to the banning of former Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales and former Department of Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert Del Rosario from entering Hong Kong. That is ridiculous because those two openly criticised China particularly Chinese President Xi Jinping. Of course Chinese officials had enough reason to ban them from entering any Chinese territory. What’s the difference between the banning of Morales and Del Rosario from entering Hong Kong and the proposed banning of Philippine officials involved in De Lima’s case from entering the US? The way I see it, Morales and Del Rosario are seen as a threat to China while Philippine officials are only a threat to the Philippine Liberal Party. The only way the latter is justified is if the US lawmakers have struck a deal with the Liberal Party.
These US senators have essentially concluded that De Lima is not guilty before the Philippine courts even started the trial. This is an insult to the men and women of the Philippines’ justice system who are simply doing their jobs. When a case is filed against an individual, they have to process it. The US senator claims to know more about the case than Filipinos. That’s really unfortunate because it proves some US lawmakers think very lowly of Filipinos – think the people are inferior and can’t fix their own problems. I’m glad majority of Americans do not think the same way. Most US lawmakers, after all, are rational people who are not inclined to meddle into other countries’ internal affairs and jeopardize foreign relations. I’m pretty sure the rest of the American public do not even know or have never heard of De Lima. There are even Filipinos who are not familiar with the cases she is charged with so it would be a surprise if Americans do. They should stop meddling in Philippine affairs.
The truth is, De Lima should have been charged and prosecuted a long time ago for violating the law and defying the Supreme Court’s temporary restraining order issued in favor of former President Gloria Arroyo. Arroyo was about to leave the country to seek medical consultation abroad but De Lima ordered her arrest and detention even when there was no pending case against her at that time. When they finally filed cases against her, they were all based on trumped-up charges. This was proven when one by one, the cases got dismissed due to lack of evidence and credible witnesses. De Lima should have been disbarred for her violations then. But of course the old patronage politics was at work when the Aquino government was still in power and she went on to finish her term and managed to win a seat in the senate.
Part of the reason why De Lima is regarded by some people in the international community as a “victim” is because the alleged crimes she committed during her time as a cabinet member of the Aquino government only surfaced during Duterte’s term. They now assume the cases are “trumped-up” and ‘politically-motivated”. But Duterte has so many critics. Only those who allegedly violated the law are getting in trouble. It’s a hard lesson for people like De Lima. If you’re going to criticise the most powerful person in the country, you better make sure he’s got nothing on you.
In life, things are not always what they seem.
Call it what it is, a “Quid pro quo”, those Senators can play high morality police in the globe and help their counterparts attain some semblance of political relevancy and maybe power, and if they get what they want and freeing De Lima, they can realign the Philippines back to US interests, while having a PR boost to add “Democratic Crusader of Human Rights” in their resume instead of fixing their own problems that they can distract voters.
Leila de Lima is a “cold stone” crook, a convicted drug lord, and a nymphomaniac. She is the personification of evil, that I had ever seen, who had run the Justice Department of the Philippines. She is one of the inner circles, of Pnoy Aquino, who is himself one of the most corrupt and crooked Presidents that ever served our country.
This U.S. meddling in our country’s internal affairs began, when Trilliling Trillanes, went to U.S., to ask the help of U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio (R, Florida). Then, Trillanes went to the U.S. / C.I.A. to ask for the overthrow of the duly elected Pres. Duterte. And install the fake Vice President Lugaw Robredo as President, and himself, as Vice President….
They also gave false information, that the crook, De Lima is being imprisoned on politically motivated charges. It was false information, to gain favor to instigate, an EDSA like “coup d’ etat” against Pres. Duterte.
These idiots, U.S. Senators, swallowed the disinformation, hook, line and sinker…
Remember that , after the SODOMA project of Trillanes failed and was discovered; the fake Vice President, went to U.S., recently ; to spread further disinformation about the convicted drug dealer, De Lima. She was asking for the U.S., to install her, as President,like the know nothing, Cory Aquino…another EDSA in the making…This was their “Last Ace” in their grab for power…U.S. intervention…
These U.S. Senators, should know better, that we are no longer a colony of the U.S. And, these L.P. opposition people, must not ask, for foreign intervention to install themselves in power….They cannot win in any election…so they want foreign intervention to help them be installed in power…
What a bunch of political scumbags !!!
Oh, get over yourself. The US is not “meddling in Philippine affairs”. They are entitled to ban from entry anyone they like. It’s true that these travel bans can be arbitrary, but the Philippines is hardly innocent of such nonsense. Wasn’t some actor/actress declared Persona Non Grata a while back for saying Manila smells like cockroaches?
The US is also entitled to form their own (official or unofficial) opinions of the machinations of other countries. Filipinos do not get to tell other people what to think or believe – which is just as well, because Filipinos believe some truly bizarre crap.
>> That’s really unfortunate because it proves some US lawmakers think very lowly of Filipinos – think the people are inferior and can’t fix their own problems. I’m glad majority of Americans do not think the same way.
If Filipinos want to gain international respect, then the solution is simple: stop acting like a bunch of backward, incompetent savages. Are you seriously suggesting that the Philippines has a functioning justice system? Again, the US version of justice might be a failure in many respects, but somehow it works well enough for the country to progress. In the Philippines, it does not, and one of the reasons is that dishonesty and corruption is baked into the very fabric of the culture – including the Law itself. In fact, in the Philippines, the Law works like this:
>> Only those who allegedly violated the law are getting in trouble. It’s a hard lesson for people like De Lima. If you’re going to criticise the most powerful person in the country, you better make sure he’s got nothing on you.
In other words, it’s the rule of Mob Vengeance.
Is De Lima guilty? Who knows? Who cares? The US are probably just slapping Filipinos down because, well, they make themselves such easy targets for mockery and abuse.
well said Marius !
@Marius :
The U.S. State Department and the U.S. / C.I.A. , intervened covertly in the 1986 EDSA coup d’ etat against the late Pres. Marcos Sr. The U.S. Air Force in Clark Air Base, protected the coup d’ etat rebels, and protected the late Cory Aquino. It was an overt intervention, by the U.S. military, the U.S. Department of State, and the U.S./C.I.A.
There was disinformation directed to Pres. Marcos Sr. and his family, done by the Aquino Cojuangco Political axis. The disinformation was concocted by the U.S./C.I.A., to oust Pres. Marcos Sr.
The reason for his ousting is the U.S. wanted to retain their military bases in the Philippines. Pres. Marcos Sr. wants the U.S. Bases Agreements, not renewed. Cory Aquino and the Aquino Cojuangco political axis, used this bases issue to oust the sitting President, and gain Power…
The rest is history. So, we do not want any U.S. intervention and foreign intervention in any of our political affair…Leila de Lima, was found guilty in Philippine Court of drug dealing. And , she is using politics, to cover up her crimes…the fake Vice President and the opposition are using the same tactic to oust Pres. Duterte…
It was the same way, Ninoy Aquino Jr. used politics, to cover up his being a supporter of the Communist Party of the Philippines, and the founder of the New Peoples’ Army.
We know more our country and our politicians , than any foreigner do…so, keep away from intervening !
I know what the US did. Their recent history is a shameful record of hubris and incompetence. It is at least partially true that they had a hand in “ousting” Marcos (although I’d say that was more a case of Marcos realising that his luck had run out and it was time to make a fast exit). And they do still meddle.
The fact remains that their border controls are their own business. I don’t see how banning someone (or some group of persons) from entry into the US is “meddling in Philippine affairs”.
It’s even more of a stretch to suggest that this is all about bringing down Duterte. Nobody cares about Duterte. At least not enough to depose him. I suppose the US may be worried about China occupying the Philippines if the Philippines becomes too weak, but I’m sure they realise that the Philippines is weak because of Filipinos, not because of Duterte. Deposing Duterte would simply result in another Duterte taking power. So what would be the point?
Filipinos see conspiracy theories everywhere because it makes them feel important. Nobody wants to play nice with the Philippines because it’s impossible – but hey, at least if they’re attacking us, that means they acknowledge our existence!
While the US can ban anyone it wants (provided the other parts of government agree with the proposed ban and approve it), they seem to frame it as fighting for truth, justice and all of goodness, when it is only a political color they are trying to support. In that sense, the said politicians are dishonest. But hey, they’re politicians.
It’s how we are in the global totem pole, we’re an easy target for cheap political stunts, and this is pretty much basic media narrative, those politicians are fighting for the rights of the political opposite of an “Authoritarian” that they opposed while media rags will not report anything else other than, taking to what Marco Rubio said “Trumped up charges on a political opposition against Duterte”, without forgetting to mention his meetings with Trillanes in 2017.
The only question is the reaction of the Philippine Government to the US, there’s already statements from many senators and house members, but it’s almost a moot point because this is the same as that UN “condemnation” of the drug war, doesn’t help they are timing this with Duterte’s trip to Russia, because geopolitical cheap shots like this has happened, and I doubt even if De Lima’s case goes into court and is not resolved in the way they like, they won’t go easy. Overall, nothing to get crazy on unless the US pushes for economic sanctions in exchange for De Lima.
This is just the most recent story in the on-going saga of the US’s own journey to becoming a showbiz government not too different from that of its own former colonial outpost. People argue that the showbiz that is US politics began with Trump. Actually it began much earlier than that — back to the Obama campaign which made full use of social media theatrics, woke/snowflake appeals, and Obama’s own brand of televangelism.
In this recent one, I would agree that the words coming out from these US senators are all just empty soundbytes the media is gleefully lapping up. What is even more laughable is how the chi chi “thought leaders” of the Philippine Opposition are grabbing and running their campaign here with all that fodder. They don’t seem to learn from the catastrophic defeat of their “Otso Diretso” coalition this year. They lost on account of the catastrophic implosion of campaign built upon a colossal media bubble that burst right under their feet.
ChinoF: I agree that politicians are dishonest by definition. And most do-gooders don’t have the faintest clue what’s going on in the countries they make noises about. The US in particular is massively hypocritical when it comes to “freedom” and “justice”.
On the other hand, the US maintains a CIA presence in the Philippines (as they do everywhere, of course) and I suspect they have some solid intelligence on the De Lima affair. They may know in detail exactly what happened, and they almost certainly know more than the journalists or the general public know. I personally would not trust either the judgment of a Philippine court (I’ve dealt with enough lawyers and read enough Supreme Court judgments to gauge the general level of competence) or the reports that I read or hear on TV. That doesn’t mean De Lima is innocent. Merely that there’s probably a lot more to all this than meets the eye.
Perhaps the CIA knows a lot, though I won’t assume the US politicians supporting De Lima share the same knowledge. It could be that the CIA is feeding them other information, which may also be false and manipulative information. And given the CIA’s history (Mossadegh in Iran and Allende in Chile), I’d say their intentions are likely to not be in our interest.
A hero on one side is a villain on the opposite side, once there is a change in the administration and the opposite side is at the helm, the “change” begin(again), the hero now becomes the villain, this is just another political drama repeat over and over again. Why let her play the “victim” card? Of course, to make it more dramatic and close to being a martyr (well what else will she use for image build-up?), just in time for Duterte’s exit.
how many judges have inhibited from this case again?does that tell you something is wrong with this case? take away the blinders your putting on,pathetic.
@perhinto abad:
The Judiciary is still full of Aquino appointees. During the Aquino era, the Aquinos appointed many Judges; they had complete control of the Judiciary. The Leila de Lima case is a glaring corruption case of a crooked government official, who took advantage of her position, during her term of office.
The Bong Bong Marcos case is a good example, of work Aquino loyalists. The recount is being controlled by Caguioa , an Aquino loyalist of the Supreme Court. There is an ongoing recount of the 2016 Vice Presidential election on the Vice President position. The fake and phony Vice President, Lugaw Robredo, was elected thru the cheating of former COMELEC Chief Andres Bautista, who is now a TNT in the U.S., enjoying his bribes. They used the HOCUS PCOS and the SMARTSWITIK machine to do the cheating.
There is an ongoing recount. But, the recount is being corrupted by Caguioa and the Aquino Cojuangco political axis. Spoiled ballots; dead people voting; etc…
We are not that naive !
whoa. this is why i love reading comments.
no offense, mam ilda, your article is enlightening, to say the least.
Getting banned from US entry is hardly a punitive threat anyways; what makes Americans think Filipinos nowadays are scrambling to visit the US? ASEAN and north Asian countries are far more culturally rich. Scenic beauty, ethnic diversity, cuisine, technological advancement – the US has nothing on Asians. If anyone wanted to see America, they could just watch the latest Joker movie.
Funny is that one of these two US senators, Vermont’s Patrick Leahy, isn’t above the showbiz bug either…
https://www.washingtonpost.com/arts-entertainment/2019/03/13/sen-patrick-leahy-was-batman-movies-now-hes-written-foreword-superheros-th-anniversary/