12 European Parliament members visit De Lima in Camp Crame detention

July 19, 2017

Twelve members of the European Parliament visited Senator Leila De Lima in her detention facility in Camp Crame on Wednesday. Soraya Post, chair of European Parliamentary delegation to the Philippines said "we discussed her situation and she didn't complain on the police in her detention she said they are taking care of her there". In their two-hour meeting, Post said De Lima wants to "go to her family' and "go to her work" to deliver her vote to the Senate. The delegation's purpose in visiting the Philippines is to express the concern of the European parliamentary about the case of De Lima and the human rights situation in the Philippines, she said. The European Parliamentary posted a joint resolution in their website on March 15 to "call for the immediate release" of De Lima. The EU parliament said in the resolution that they "strongly condemns the high number of extrajudicial killings related to war on drugs campaign of President Rodrigo Duterte. De Lima said in a press release:“My guests looked into my condition as a ‘prisoner of conscience’, deprived of liberty for defending human rights, opposing the brazen killings and flagrant violations of human dignity in the wake of Duterte’s murderous war on drugs". She said they discussed the human rights situation in the Philippines and several legislative measures like the death penalty bill and proposed lowering of the age of crime responsibility. “Once again, these visits from international institutions prove that indeed, the world is watching closely what is happening in our country under the Duterte regime. The US Congress will even hold hearings on the widespread human rights violations in the Philippines,” she said. Senate President Aquilino Pimentel III said in an ambush interview at the Senate on Tuesday the visit of the European Parliamentary officials in the Philippines is not part of their human rights review. The European Parliament asked the government about the status of the death penalty bill and the human rights situation, Pimentel said. He said all member states of the European Union are against the idea of the death penalty. Pimentel said there is possible cooperation between the European parliament and the Philippines. "Cooperation on the improvement of our justice system, the exchange of information against terrorism", he said. (Alanna Ambi/DMS)