This is not the first time that a politician will campaign from prison, but detained Senator Leila de Lima has a plan to use volunteerism, her platforms, and experience to encourage voters to reelect her to the Senate.

The senator has been detained at the Camp Crame in Quezon City for almost five years now and will spend her fifth Christmas in prison on what she believed to be trumped-up charges by the Duterte administration.

Her spokesman, lawyer Dino de Leon, spoke about how the senator plans to campaign for her reelection in 2022 during the weekly radio show of Vice President Leni Robredo.

De Lima, a staunch critic of President Duterte who led the investigation into the alleged Davao Death Squad (DDS), is seeking reelection under the opposition slate of Robredo and Senator Kiko Pangilinan.

“We have no other recourse but to rely on volunteers,” he said over dzXL.

READ: Robredo has base of rock solid volunteers for 2022 polls — Trillanes

De Leon, who is also a volunteer of the senator, said their camp recognized the difficulty of campaigning for someone who cannot go freely around the country but it is also not impossible because former Senator Antonio Trillanes IV has already done it before.

Aside from relying on volunteers, De Lima has also established community pantries and community kitchens.

“Para kay (For) Senator Leila de Lima, hindi lang dapat kampanya o politics bagkus iyong pangangampanya nakakatulong sa ating (it should not only be about campaign or politics but the campaign should help us in) pandemic recovery,” De Leon said.

The embattled senator is also banking on her experience as a lawmaker, having introduced more than 500 bills even from detention.

Her spokesman said these bills include landmark ones such as the Magna Carta for the Poor, the 4Ps Act or the Pantawid Pamilya Program, and the Senior Citizens Commission Act.

READ: Reelectionist De Lima vows to strengthen rights of senior citizens

“Kung mapapansin mo iyong mga laws ni Senator Leila lagi ito ‘yung mga nasa pinakalaylayan kasi hindi lang hustisya ang para sa kanya kundi (If you will notice, the laws of Senator Leila are for those in the fringes because it’s not only justice for her, but) social justice,” he said.

If elected once more to the Senate, De Lima will focus on her “Lima Para Kay De Lima (Five For De Lima)”: civil and political security through good governance, food security, health security, economic security, and national security.

“Ang pwede natin expect kay Senator De Lima na ipagpapatuloy niya ang kanyang kasipagan, kagalingan, at iyong (What we can expect from Senator De Lima is she will continue her being hardworking, competence, and the) moral courage na ipaglalaban ang bawat isa sa atin (to fight for each one of us),” De Leon said.

Even with the state’s massive machinery and power, the senator believes that “volunteerism and love” will power through what’s good for the country.

Her spokesman said that De Lima believed those who want to maintain the status quo are those who are “interested in power.”

“They are ruthless and they will do whatever it takes to remain in power. They have the entire machinery of the state and they (have) billions and billions of dollars (of) ill-gotten wealth to make sure that they will succeed,” he said.

“We can only match it through sheer volunteerism and love,” De Leon added.