ALBAY Representative Edcel Lagman said it is a "pathetic irony" that human rights advocates who are not recognized in the Philippines are greatly appreciated by internal groups abroad.
The lawmaker has issued a statement on Wednesday following reports that the Liberal International has awarded its "highest human rights honor," Prize for Freedom to detained Senator Leila De Lima.
"It is a pathetic irony that while freedom fighters and human rights advocates are depreciated by the present leadership in their own country, they are greatly appreciated elsewhere in the world," Lagman said.
Reports stated that more than a hundred politicians from 32 countries voted to give the award to De Lima, whom they labeled as a political prisoner.
De Lima, a former chairperson of the Commission on Human Rights, is the second Filipino to have won the award. In 1987, former President Corazon Aquino received the same award.
Last December, the senator was also honored by a political magazine in the United States for standing up to an extremist leader.
The senator, who vocally criticizes the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte even in jail, has been detained in the Philippine National Police Custodial Center in Camp Crame since February.
She is facing drug-related charges over her alleged participation in the narco-trading at the state penitentiary when she was justice secretary. (VoxPop Philippines)
