Opposition Senator Leila de Lima on Thursday said should public should expect President Duterte’s “attack dogs” to become “more rabid as his reign of terror nears its end.”

De Lima issued the statement as she expressed her solidarity with Sen. Risa Hontiveros who earlier posted bail for the wiretapping charges filed against her by former justice secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II.

De Lima said the timing of Risa’s indictment over a sham wiretapping case reeks of desperation and a desperate public relations (PR) stunt in an attempt to destroy her colleague’s integrity.

“It is clear that Sen. Risa did not violate the law when she disclosed in a privilege speech the text messages of Aguirre conspiring to file trumped-up charges against her. Si Aguirre pa nga ang dapat kasuhan (It should be Aguirre who must be arrested and charged),” De Lima said in a statement.

“Pero kailangan ng rehimen ng matinding escape plan sa dami ng kasalanan nila sa bayan (But this regime needs a serious escape plan because of the many sins they committed against the nation). And part of this sinister plan is to silence those who speak truth to power. As if naman masisindak nila si Risa Hontiveros (As if they can terrify Risa Hontiveros),” the detained senator added.

What should not be forgotten, De Lima pointed out, is that the harassment suit against Hontiveros stemmed from the Senate inquiry into the death of Kian delos Santos, who was murdered by cops in connection with the so-called “war on drugs” of the Duterte administration.

“So it is somehow par for the course for this administration to do this to a champion of a child-victim of murder as we celebrate the day of Los Niños Inocentes,” De Lima quipped.

“Kaya di na nakakagulat ang nakakasukang pambabastos ni Vitaliano Aguirre sa nangyari at alaala ng isang menor de edad na pinatay sa ilalim ng rehimeng ito, noong s’ya mismo ay nanunungkulan bilang ‘Kalihim ng Hustisya’ kuno (That’s why Vitaliano Aguirre’s scurrility on what happened to a minor who was killed under this regime is no longer a surprise, when he was at the helm as supposed to be as justice secretary),” she pointed out.

“If it were up to Aguirre and his accomplice, the investigation by the Senate would have been derailed and Kian would have been another forgotten victim of his and Duterte’s brand of EJK and injustice. Mabuti na lang hindi nagpatinag ang isang Risa Hontiveros (It’s a good thing that Risa Hontiveros did not back down),” De Lima stressed.

De Lima said it was thanks to Hontiveros that the murder trial on the case of Kian Delos Santos was put to rest and the cops who killed the minor were charged and convicted more than two years ago.