De Lima tests negative for COVID-19

Detained former Senator Leila de Lima on Tuesday said she has tested negative for COVID-19 after being exposed to Interior Secretary Benhur Abalos.

“Tested negative of COVID-19 virus,” De Lima said in a tweet.

“I had to undergo an RT-PCR test yesterday afternoon, given my exposure to Sec. Benhur Abalos who tested positive after he checked on me last Sunday in the aftermath of the hostage-taking incident,” she added.

According to De Lima, she is currently confined at the Philippine National Police General Hospital for further monitoring due to lingering chest pains after she was taken hostage by a detainee on Sunday morning.

De Lima was taken hostage when a detainee, identified as Feliciano Sulayao Jr., tried to escape the facility. According to her, Sulayao entered her detention cell while she was praying and pressed a sharp object against her chest.

Sulayao was eventually killed by responding policemen. His two other companions were likewise killed.

The day after the incident, De Lima attended the resumption of a Muntinlupa Regional Trial Court hearing on her remaining drug charges, which was reset after Abalos tested positive for COVID-19.

“Yesterday's hearing in one of the trumped-up charges was even canceled on manifestation, in open court, of the Prosecutors about the news of Sec. Abalos' having tested positive and about the fact of my exposure to him,” she said.

De Lima has been detained at Camp Crame since 2017 over drug charges. She has repeatedly denied the accusations levelled against her. —Joahna Lei Casilao/KBK, GMA News