Press Release
August 16, 2018

Don't be deceived by MAD triumvirate - De Lima

Opposition Senator Leila M. de Lima has warned against the Marcos-Arroyo-Duterte (MAD) triumvirate whose unholy alliance is obviously geared towards cementing their hold to political power and advancing their vested interests.

De Lima, the first prominent political prisoner under the Duterte regime, maintained that Marcos, Arroyo and Duterte all promote a policy of oppression and repression.

"Huwag magtiwala sa M.A.D (Marcos, Arroyo, Duterte) triumvirate! Huwag na huwag nating kakalimutan ang mga kasalanan nila sa bayan. Huwag magpauto sa kanila!" De Lima said in an ambush interview after her arraignment at the Muntinlupa City Regional Trial Court Branch 205 last Aug. 10.

Last month, members of the House of Representatives voted to oust Davao del Norte Rep. Pantaleon Alvarez and elected Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo as the new House Speaker.

Arroyo, the only nominee in the top House post, won the speakership with 184 affirmative votes, while 12 lawmakers opted to abstain.

Based on media reports, Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio and Ilocos Norte Gov. Imee Marcos were part of the House coup that catapulted Arroyo to power as the new House Speaker.

The former justice secretary earlier said letting Arroyo grab the House speakership was the first order of business of the people around the President as he starts his third year in office.

"Never mind a legislative agenda that would fight poverty, spur development, and save the people from runaway inflation and rising unemployment. It is politics as usual for his administration. Meanwhile, the actual state of the nation continues its downward spiral," she said in her recent Dispatch from Crame No. 348.

Notably, the members of the press had a hard time getting a statement from De Lima during her recent court appearance where she faced the obviously politically-motivated trumped-up illegal drug charges the present administration filed against her.

As De Lima was escorted out of the Muntinlupa Hall of Justice last Aug. 10, her police escorts, mainly from the Philippine National Police-Custodial Center, deliberately tried to cover De Lima's statement with fake coughs.

"The cops now came up with more 'creative' ways to hide me from the public. I am virtually caged in to deprive me from speaking and talking to the media since this government knows very well that it can't totally bar media from covering my Court appearances. What are they afraid of?" she said from her detention center.

Considered as a leading prisoner of conscience, De Lima is currently detained in Camp Crame, Quezon City for trumped-up drug charges fabricated by the Duterte administration, borne out of Duterte's personal vendetta against her.

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