De Lima says 'Otso Diretso' loss is loss of Filipino people
By AJ Siytangco
Published May 21, 2019 11:45 am
By Hannah Torregoza
Opposition Senator Leila de Lima on Tuesday clarified that she was not disappointed at the candidates of Otso Diretso for their electoral defeat, maintaining that it was the loss of the Filipinos who missed out on choosing the right leaders who could have served the Filipino people’s interests with no reservations.
“They may have won no seats, but that is not their loss. It is our loss. We had a chance to elect brave, competent, independent-minded and compassionate people, who understood and were committed to the true meaning of ‘public service’, but we, as a nation, turned their offer down,” de Lima said in her latest statement.
Senator Leila de Lima
(REUTERS / Romeo Ranoco / MANILA BULLETIN) “There will be no playing the blame game. There will, nevertheless, be a lot of reflection, a heightened resolve and, above all, the opening up of avenues of communications,” she added. Despite the Otso Diretso opposition coalition’s painful loss in the recently concluded May 2019 midterm elections, de Lima said the opposition continues to have a firm resolve to stand up and fight the second phase of the Duterte administration’s authoritarian policies. “This loss was hard. Painful. But we should not give up. Because this fight is perhaps the most important fight of our entire history as a nation,” De Lima said in a statement. “We are fighting for our future, our children’s future. We are fighting for our soul as a nation,” she added. The detained senator issued the statement as the opposition brace for the Commission on Elections (Comelec) proclamation of the winning senatorial candidates and party list groups today. None of the eight senatorial bets of the opposition—Sen. Paolo “Bam” Aquino IV, former senator Mar Roxas, Jose Manuel “Chel” Diokno, Magdalo Rep. Gary Alejano, civic leader Samira Gutoc, election lawyer Romulo Macalintal, former solicitor general Florin Hilbay, and former Rep. Erin Tañada—made it to the top 12. But while the united opposition leaders may have suffered a huge loss in the recently concluded midterm elections, she said it was never an option for them to give up on what they are fighting for. “Yes, it is another setback. Yes, this is no ordinary loss. But with loss comes the opportunity to learn,” she stressed. “And we won’t learn anything if we let ourselves wallow in disappointment or give in to hopelessness,” she added in her statement. De Lima earlier expressed fears that the second phase of the Duterte administration’s term would be “terrible and frightening” as she expected the government’s plan to pursue Charter change, a bloodier war on drugs and the total capitulation of the country to China. The detained lawmaker, likewise, said she is dreading the unmitigated and unchecked corruption and abuse of power in the Duterte administration, and more repression of the opposition, critics, and pro-democracy forces and human rights defenders. De Lima said there was no one to blame for Otso Diretso’s electoral defeat, saying now “is not the time to give up and easily surrender the future of the younger generations to oppressors. “We live to fight another day. A long tough fight it is. But we will not give up,” she emphasized. #MatalinongBoto2019
Senator Leila de Lima(REUTERS / Romeo Ranoco / MANILA BULLETIN) “There will be no playing the blame game. There will, nevertheless, be a lot of reflection, a heightened resolve and, above all, the opening up of avenues of communications,” she added. Despite the Otso Diretso opposition coalition’s painful loss in the recently concluded May 2019 midterm elections, de Lima said the opposition continues to have a firm resolve to stand up and fight the second phase of the Duterte administration’s authoritarian policies. “This loss was hard. Painful. But we should not give up. Because this fight is perhaps the most important fight of our entire history as a nation,” De Lima said in a statement. “We are fighting for our future, our children’s future. We are fighting for our soul as a nation,” she added. The detained senator issued the statement as the opposition brace for the Commission on Elections (Comelec) proclamation of the winning senatorial candidates and party list groups today. None of the eight senatorial bets of the opposition—Sen. Paolo “Bam” Aquino IV, former senator Mar Roxas, Jose Manuel “Chel” Diokno, Magdalo Rep. Gary Alejano, civic leader Samira Gutoc, election lawyer Romulo Macalintal, former solicitor general Florin Hilbay, and former Rep. Erin Tañada—made it to the top 12. But while the united opposition leaders may have suffered a huge loss in the recently concluded midterm elections, she said it was never an option for them to give up on what they are fighting for. “Yes, it is another setback. Yes, this is no ordinary loss. But with loss comes the opportunity to learn,” she stressed. “And we won’t learn anything if we let ourselves wallow in disappointment or give in to hopelessness,” she added in her statement. De Lima earlier expressed fears that the second phase of the Duterte administration’s term would be “terrible and frightening” as she expected the government’s plan to pursue Charter change, a bloodier war on drugs and the total capitulation of the country to China. The detained lawmaker, likewise, said she is dreading the unmitigated and unchecked corruption and abuse of power in the Duterte administration, and more repression of the opposition, critics, and pro-democracy forces and human rights defenders. De Lima said there was no one to blame for Otso Diretso’s electoral defeat, saying now “is not the time to give up and easily surrender the future of the younger generations to oppressors. “We live to fight another day. A long tough fight it is. But we will not give up,” she emphasized. #MatalinongBoto2019