Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto on Wednesday, June 1 called on the incoming administration of President-elect Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos, Jr. to help free Senator Leila de Lima whom he said is a “feisty lady worthy of our respect.”

Recto made the call as he made his farewell speech; he is one of the senators graduating in the 18th Congress as their term ends on June 30.

“Another feisty lady worthy of our respect is Leila de Lima, a prisoner of conscience, punished for her courage, but whose spirit no prison walls could contain,” Recto said in his valedictory speech.

Trolls put her behind bars. The truth shall set her free. Mr. President-elect, free Leila,” he stressed.

De Lima has been in jail since 2017 over what she repeatedly described as trumped-up illegal drug charges due to her being a vocal critic of the Duterte administration’s war on drugs.

She sought a reelection bid in the last May 9 polls but lost in the senatorial race. She is also an outgoing senator of the 18th Congress.

In his speech, Recto also comically advised some senators who would remain in the 19th Congress.

Recto in particular advised Sen. Christopher “Bong” Go to “relish your freedom” as his moonlighting days as a presidential aide is over. “But never give up your bisyo na magserbisyo,” he said.

He also commended the “other half of the DDS or Davao Dedicated Senators” led by Sen. Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa: “Senator Bato, I salute you for your ramrod straight integrity. Your laws are as good as chiseled in stone. Itaga mo sa bato!”

Recto also took the chance to commend Sen. Cynthia Villar “from whom the country’s richest man gets his weekly allowance.”

“Your Goldilocks principle in making laws is the reason why they have become good ones.

“Ano ang Goldilocks principle? Remember the fable of the lugaw: Too hot, Papa Bear complains. Too cold, cries Baby Bear. Just right, says Mama Bear. Pag sinabi ni Mama Bear na tama na ang timpla, ihain na!” Recto pointed out.

Recto also took the opportunity to commend fellow veteran lawmaker and outgoing senator, Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon, whom he said when caught “closing his eyes in deep thought has inspired a catalog of memes which would have made him a billionaire if he could monetize it.”

“Not that he had dozed off in the Senate, but this I will state with certainty: a sleeping Drilon will have more activity in his brain than many of us awake,” Recto pointed out.

“He can even be pumped full of sedatives but will still retain computing power to outsmart the fully conscious among us,” he elaborated.