Courts allow Senator De Lima to visit ailing mother

The two Muntinlupa judges handling drug charges against Senator Leila de Lima have granted her wish for furlough to visit her ailing mother in Camarines Sur.

In three decisions, the Muntinlupa RTC Branches 205 and 256 granted the senator’s motion for furlough and allowed her to go to Iriga from Aug. 14 to 15, including travel time, and return to the Philippine National Police Custodial Center, where she is being detained, by Aug. 16.

De Lima told the courts her 86-year-old mother, Norma, was in critical condition and that doctors have advised against giving more medicine given her old age and “extremely weakened condition.”

The senator said she has seen her mother only twice since she was arrested in February 2017.

The prosecution did not oppose De Lima’s request but proposed conditions for the furlough. Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra had said he would ask the prosecutors not to object for humanitarian reasons.

Judge Liezel Aquiatan, who conducts trial on two of the three cases, limited De Lima’s stay at the hospital to eight hours. Both courts barred her from giving interviews to the media during the furlough.

Likewise, the judges ordered the police to provide adequate personal escorts and security measures for the senator, but she will shoulder all expenses in her trip.

The senator was last allowed a furlough in June for the celebration of her son’s passing of the Bar examinations.

She faces trial for charges for conspiracy to commit illegal drug trading inside the New Bilibid Prison when she was secretary of the Department of Justice. She denies the allegations. —LBG, GMA News