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, who he said was a “feisty lady who deserves our respect.”
Recto called while making his farewell; he is one of the senators who will end his term in the 18th Congress 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,” said Recto.
“Trolls put her behind bars. The truth shall set her free. Mr. President-elect, free Leila,” he noted.
De Lima has been incarcerated since 2017 for cases of illegal drugs. She is a vocal critic of the Duterte administration’s war on drugs.
He sought a reelection bid last May 9 polls but lost the senatorial race. He is also an outgoing senator of the 18th Congress.
Recto also jokingly advised some senators to stay in the 19th Congress in his speech.
He also lauded 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 asks President-elect Marcos to free De Lima
Recto also took the opportunity to praise 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!” said Recto.
Recto also took the opportunity to praise fellow veteran legislator and outgoing senator, Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon, who said that being caught with his eyes closed in deep thought resulted in many “catalogs 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,” said Recto.
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