Duterte is Using Rumors of a Sex Tape to Smear A Critic
“Duterte wants to make an example of me so that nobody will speak out," says Leila de Lima.
Leila de Lima is sitting at a square table sharing a meal with some of her political allies in a meeting room in a Manila hotel. Two young male aides stand guard outside the room; they ask that her hotel not be named. “This is my life now,” says de Lima, a human rights advocate and member of the Philippine Senate. “It’s become a nightmare, but I’m getting used to it.”
Since September 20, when her address and cellphone number were read out at a congressional hearing, de Lima, 57, has moved between the homes of friends and relatives. She has received death threats and is now too afraid to spend the night at her own house, where she lives alone. “I sneak home occasionally to see and users.
