As expected, President Rodrigo Duterte is included in the wish list of Senator Leila de Lima for the new year
Senator Leila de Lima has her own wish list as she embraces year 2017, leaving a windmill and whirlpool year that was.
Two days before year 2016 departs and after the first six months of tumultuous debut in the legislature, Senator De Lima expressed her hope for a peaceful personal life, and also for the country to have a reformed leader and an enlightened citizenry in the middle of divisiveness over the controversial policy direction of the current administration.
No one can blame the lady Solon because she had to go through a firestorm in her initial half-year in the Senate, be accused by no less than President Rodrigo Duterte and members of his administration of amassing drug money from the illegal drug trade, and being a playgirl, among others.
In a text message she sent to reporters, Senator De Lima shared her wish for the new year. She was quoted saying, “I wish for an atmosphere of truth-telling and accordingly those who lied and testified against me be stricken with consistence”.
She is also asking for a serene personal life, a kind free from hypocrisies and betrayals.
De lima also expressed her wish for the change of heart of the tough-talking president, who is among, if not the chief, of her accusers, as his all-out war against illegal drugs continues.
She said she is wishing for the President to regain a sense of morality, and compassion for the poor who are mainly the victims of his anti-drug war. She also added and quoted saying, “I wish for the deliverance of this country from killings, lies, deceptions, and manipulations”.
More than six thousand persons have died since Duterte took office and waged a war against prohibited drugs in July 2016. More than two thousand of whom were slain in legitimate anti-illegal drug operations.
Meanwhile, also included in De Lima’s wish list is discernment among the supporters of President Duterte, who have heavily, cruelly criticized her in all social media platforms.
The lady Senator said that she wishes enlightenment for his supporters, and the realization that bloodshed and more hate is not the way forward for the Philippines but love and understanding.
She said that she hopes to see the Filipino people turn away from the evil of fear and hatred, and go back to the God of love and charity.
But as wishful as she is, Senator De Lima will embrace 2017 with charges filed against her before the Department of Justice (DOJ), which she all welcomed, saying it would be her opportunity to defend herself at the right venue.