MALACAÑANG on Monday, March 26, disputed the claim of former President Benigno Aquino III that detained Senator Leila de Lima is "fighting for principle."
Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque Jr. maintained that De Lima was ordered arrested not because of her "political beliefs" against the current administration but because of charges that she was involved in the illegal drugs trade when she was still the Justice Secretary.
Roque said the Palace respects Aquino's statement.
"We take note of the opinion of former President Benigno Aquino III on Senator Leila de Lima. With all due respect to the former President, Senator Leila de Lima is not fighting for her principle and was not detained because of her political beliefs," Roque said in a statement.
"The lady Senator was arrested and incarcerated because of serious drug charges where she was accused of allowing the illegal drug trade to proliferate inside the National Bilibid Prison when she was the DOJ Secretary," he added.
Roque's statement came after Aquino and other prominent political figures expressed support for De Lima, who launched on February 23 her first electronic book titled "Dispatches from Crame 1."
"Dispatches from Crame 1" is a collection of De Lima's handwritten statements about personal, governance and social justice issues since her arrest on February 24, 2017.
De Lima's book, which is currently on its special reprint, also includes Aquino's remark, lauding the detained senator for her courage to speak out against supposed state-led abuses.
"We can see it: Leila, very clearly, has principle. In times of her trials, it is evident that she is fighting for us. It is good that we let Leila feel that she is not alone in this battle," the former President said in his message to De Lima.
De Lima is currently detained at the Philippine National Police Custodial Center in Camp Crame, Quezon City for three counts of drug charges filed before separate courts in Muntinlupa City.
It was President Rodrigo Duterte who first accused De Lima as the "highest government official" who allowed proliferation of illegal drugs inside the state penitentiary in Muntinlupa City during her stint as Justice secretary.
De Lima maintained her innocence and merely branded herself as a victim of "political persecution" by the Duterte administration. (SunStar Philippines)