When Sen. Risa Hontiveros received PeopleAsia’s Women of Style & Substance award in Okada Manila last year, she dedicated the award to another woman: detained former senator Leila de Lima, who she said ““pays the cost for speaking up for justice and righteousness… who even at knife’s point stands her ground as a Filipino. May we all be more like her.”
Hontiveros recently celebrated her tearful reunion with embattled friend and colleague De Lima, who was granted bail by the Muntinlupa City Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 206 after almost seven years in detention.
In a Facebook post, Hontiveros wrote, “Pagkatapos ng maraming luha at tuwa, sa araw na ito, pagpapasalamat na nasurvive ni Leila de Lima itong napakatagal at matinding kawalan ng katarungan. (After many tears and joy, on this day, we feel gratitude, knowing that Leila survived this ongoing and cruel injustice).
“Pagkatapos niyang mag-survive ng isang stroke, pagkatapos niyang mag-survive ng isang hostage taking, ay hindi mauubos ang tuwa at ang fighting spirit (After having survived one stroke and hostage-taking, her fighting spirit and sense of joy continues to live on).
Since her arrest in 2017, De Lima has been acquitted of two out of the three charges that were filed against her.
