De Lima thanks US Senate official for steadfast support

Opposition Senator Leila de Lima on Friday thanked US Sen. Richard Durbin for expressing his steadfast support for her despite her continued detention under the Duterte administration.

In her letter to the re-elected US lawmaker dated Feb. 1, De Lima also expressed her gratitude to Durbin for his unwavering effort to condemn and speak out against the worsening human rights abuses in the Philippines.

“As I approach my fourth year in unjust detention, I would like to express my profound gratitude for your steadfast support and demand for accountability in the Philippines,” De Lima wrote.

"May you and your family always be in good health and high spirits as you prevail in all your pursuits,” the detained senator added.

Durbin vowed to continue supporting De Lima after the latter congratulated him and fellow senator Patrick Leahy for securing top positions in the US Senate during their last elections.

As early as 2019, Durbin has expressed concern over De Lima’s plight, branding the drug charges against her as "unjust and politically-motivated."

Durbin further stressed the need to "stand by our human rights and democratic values amid times of political turbulence or upheaval.”

De Lima, in her letter also personally congratulated the former for being designated Senate Majority Whip, the third-highest ranking member of the majority party in the US Senate, as well as head of the Senate Judiciary committee.

“Befitting your honor and character is the serious responsibility of your position during this pivotal period in the United States government,” she said.

“Your democratic leadership, alongside Senator Patrick Leahy as Senate President Pro Tempore, gives tremendous upswing of optimism in our unwavering commitment to justice and human rights,” she added.

It may be recalled that Durbin was among the five US Senators who wrote to then US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo last July 2020 to inform the latter about the ongoing human rights abuses in the Philippines.

The concerns the US lawmakers raised include De Lima’s situation, particularly her unjust detention and the spate of extrajudicial killings in the country. Durbin is also among those who supported the bipartisan resolution, Senate Resolution (SR) 142, calling for De Lima's immediate release from wrongful imprisonment and invoking Global Magnitsky sanctions against her persecutors, which was unanimously approved at the US Senate last year.