Senator Leila de Lima is asking Filipinos to stand up against the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte.
In a press briefing in Senate, she tagged him as a sociopathic serial killer and a dictator.
“Sana magising na po ang ating mga kababayan. Yung mga nagtutulug-tulugan. Nagbubulag bulagan. Let us not be indifferent sa mga nangyayari (I hope our fellow Filipinos will wake up. Those who are pretending to sleep or those who are acting as if they are blind. Let us not be indifferent to what is happening),” she said.
She, however, said she is not calling for a People Power.
“I don’t want to be really pusing for those extreme moves,” she said.
De Lima is filing petitions in court to withhold the issuance of any warrant of arrest against her.
She is seeking a judicial determination of probable cause to charge her with violation of the Dangerous Drugs Act.
De Lima said, one of the cases has a date of March 2016 when she was not Justice Secretary anymore.
The senator maintained, the cases filed against her by the Department of Justice (DOJ) at the Muntinlupa Regional Trial Court has no basis.
De Lima said, there is a hearing on Friday for the appeals she filed.
The lawmaker is charged for the proliferation of illegal drug trade in New Bilibid Prison when she was still the justice secretary.