By Beting Laygo Dolor, Contributing Editor
A group of US lawmakers were first prevented from visiting detained former Sen. Leila de Lima,
supposedly because they did not have a court order allowing them to do so.
Led by Sen. Edward Markey, the delegation of US lawmakers finally got to see the senator, who
has been detained for six years on various drug charges on their second try. A number of the
witnesses against her, however, have retracted their statements after saying they had been
pressured by officials of the previous Duterte administration to implicate the senator.
Referred to by many foreign personalities and organizations as a “prisoner of conscience,” de
Lima has been detained at the Philippine National Police headquarters in Camp Crame, EDSA.
De Lima claims the charges against her were “politically motivated” as she had been
investigating the alleged drug ties of then Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte before he became
president.
Before finally meeting with De Lima – a former Justice secretary under the administration of
former President Benigno Aquino III – the lawmakers met with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
and other government officials on Friday, last week.
The PNP said the US delegation could not meet with De Lima for two reasons. One was their
lack of a court order, and the other due to the 15 active COVID-19 cases inside the camp.
The requirement of a court order was considered as unusual as the PNP Custodial Center has
jurisdiction over granting permission to visit detainees.
This was pointed out by De Lima herself, who said that the visit had been planned beforehand,
and had received all the necessary clearances.
The Muntinlupa City Regional Trial Court branch 204 granted the former opposition senator’s
request to allow the US delegation to visit her in her detention facility.
The motions for the visit were filed on Thursday, August 18, immediately after the US
delegation was barred from meeting De Lima. It was granted on August 19 after the
prosecution did not object to the visit.
Media, however, was not allowed to cover the visit, either in audio or video formats. The visit
also had to follow PNP guidelines on health and safety protocols.
In her motion, De Lima said Markey had written to the PNP as early as August 9. She also sent a
letter the next day for the PNP to coordinate the visit but received no reaction.
PNP guidelines state that any foreigner wishing to visit a detainee should send a letter of intent
to the PNP chief two weeks before the planned visit, which should also have the endorsement
of the Department of Foreign Affairs.
The US delegation was comprised of eight officials and their visit to De Lima lasted for about
one hour.
Besides Markey, the delegation included Congressmen Alan Lowenthal, Don Beyer, John
Garamendim and Congresswoman Aumua Amata Coleman Radewagen, plus a security escort.
Markey has been a vocal supporter of the Philippine senator and has joined calls for her
release. The US senator also supported the enforcement of the Magnitsky Act, which bars those
responsible for De Lima’s detention from entering the US.
Unlike their first attempt to see De Lima when they were quickly asked to leave, the successful
second try was met with PNP officials saluting the Americans.
In a statement, the group said their visit was intended to discuss “the progress of the remaining
cases filed against the former Senator, her current situation, and experiences in the more than
five and a half years of her continued unjust detention.”
De Lima ran for re-election earlier this year, campaigning from her detention cell. She lost in her
bid for a second Senate term.
