Awarding and Message of Liberal International President Juli Minoves July 28, 2018 The family of Senator Leila de Lima, Vice President of the Republic of the Philippines Mrs. Leni Robredo, President Aquino, Senator Drilon, Senator Pangilinan, Madam Deputy President, dear colleagues from CALD, excellencies, distinguished guests and colleagues, dear liberal friends, all: Liberal International is honored to return to the Philippines for the first time since our 57th Congress in 2011 only to present our foremost human rights award, the “Prize for Freedom”, to Liberal Party Senator, Leila de Lima. The “Prize for Freedom” has been awarded annually since 1985. As of today, the Prize will have been awarded to two courageous Filipino women, whom we are privileged to call liberals and who fought, indeed, in the case of Senator De Lima, continue to fight, unwaveringly for justice and liberty. President Corazon Aquino was the third-ever recipient of the LI Freedom Prize in 1987, as this beautiful country emerged from the yoke of a terrible dictatorship, the dictatorship of Mr. Marcos. Twenty-one years later, representatives of the global liberal family are in the Philippines to honor another human rights hero, although circumstances on this occasion do not give us cause to celebrate as we did in 1987. Instead, representatives of our global political family are here today to join hands with millions of Filipinos as we shine a light into what has become a shady political 1
atmosphere and a subject of global consternation—some of the very threats to freedom that we warned of when defining the challenges to liberalism in the 21st century as set out in our Andorra Liberal Manifesto which we adopted in our 70th Anniversary Congress last year. So seriously do we perceive the incarceration, the unfair and the unjust incarceration of Senator Leila de Lima, who has not just been unjustly detained for 520 days—we don’t forget any single of those days—that we have traveled to the Philippines to present this award. For the first time in almost one decade, the “Prize for Freedom” is being awarded outside of Europe—in doing so, we are here to recognize the sacrifice of this remarkable prisoner of conscience. When I decided, together with the Deputy President to come to the Philippines for this award, I knew from the experience last year that I will not be allowed to see her. And in fact, some of our members from CALD requested a meeting with Senator De Lima formally and they were not allowed due to some “administrative excuse”, as usual. So yesterday, when she was in court, we decided that we will just go and see her in court, as is our right as public. And we’re just behind Senator Leila de Lima. We were able to talk to her. And we said, “What can we do for you? What can we continue to do for you?” And she said: “Shine a spotlight for my safety.” Because she’s not only in jail, in prison, she’s also in danger. In a country where there’s impunity, as she said, “Impunity once unleashed has no bounds. Anything can happen.” And also I and my Deputy President were told, “You’re going to the Philippines? Be careful there.” When the Philippines, who is so admired in the world for having fought the dictatorship of Marcos, when has it lost this reputation? That whenever we go to the Philippines, people ask you are you going to be safe? This is terrible. Also this morning, ladies and gentlemen, we had a meeting with the families of those who have been killed through the extrajudicial killings. You see, I’m a father of young children. I saw those kids, 1, 2 years old, 3 years old, 4 years old, with this [look in their] face that will never change because they have been hurt so badly by seeing the death of their parents in front of them without justice or anything. Is this really the way that we can fight crime or whatever in society? Ladies and gentlemen, let’s call it—as our Deputy President said—crimes against humanity. I was, in 1998, a representative of my country to the ICC conference in Rome. And I signed the Statute and actually, I wrote a little bit there in that conference in Rome for the International Criminal Court. I think this is a matter for the International Criminal 2
Court—23,000 dead. This is inhuman. Senator De Lima’s struggle, her sacrifice, is not solely a Filipino matter, nor is it even an Asian matter, Kiat. Leila’s cause transcends petty political rivalries and regional nuances; she personifies humanity’s shared aspiration for universal human rights and it is apposite that we are awarding Leila the Prize for Freedom in this 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. With the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in mind, I recall Eleanor Roosevelt’s unambiguous interpretation of human rights: And I quote: “Basic human rights are simple and easily understood”, she wrote, “freedom of speech and a free press; the right of human beings to be secure in their homes… and free from unreasonable search and seizure and from arbitrary arrest and punishment. …We must not be deluded,” she said, “by the efforts of the forces of reaction to…confuse the struggle… We must not allow any nation to so change that human rights are made synonymous with suppression and dictatorship.” And I end the quote. It is precisely because of the global significance that Leila’s case represents that in the days leading up to this award over 60 liberal politicians and human rights defenders from 6 regions of the world—from Africa, Asia, Europe, from the Middle East, from North and South America — felt moved to sign a statement calling for the immediate release of the Senator, a statement that we will let the Duterte regime know about. Also, on the proposal of our Liberal International Deputy President, Ms. Hakima el Haite, my successor in a few months, today we created a joint committee of Liberal International and the Liberal Party of the Philippines to analyze strategy for achieving the freedom of Senator Leila de Lima. After 23 years of awarding this “Prize for Freedom”, our position is straightforward: If you are a human rights defender, you are a liberal and liberals refuse to be indifferent. We believe in the rule of law, not rule by law and we refuse to be complicit in President Duterte’s callous assault on the human rights of mostly poor people across the Philippines archipelago. So we are here to remind the 16th President of the Philippines of three things and respect for the sovereignty of this beautiful country. Human rights are for all or they are for nothing. The world is indeed watching. And Leila de Lima’s unjust detention will not be forgotten. Friends, I would like to pay tribute to Leila de Lima. Of course, we deeply regret that the Senator is not able to be here with us in person. There’s her empty chair amongst friends and colleagues from around the world, and many Filipinos, courageous Filipinos who are here tonight, to accept this award. 3
I would like to recognize Leila’s family, her colleagues, and her party who have all found it in themselves the strength to persevere when many others have struggled and endured. I will end my words with a quote from the father of the Philippine [Revolution], Andrés Bonifacio. In the face of adversity, he wrote: “We must be united in will… This is the time for the light of truth to surface.” Senator Leila de Lima, you receive this prize for speaking truth to power. Thank you very much.
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