De Lima seeks leave from detention to attend hearings on Kian
Sen. Leila de Lima. INQUIRER FILE / MARIANNE BERMUDEZ
Senator Leila De Lima on Tuesday urged the Supreme Court to give her a legislative furlough and attend the Senate hearings in connection with the death of 17-year old Kian delos Santos.
In her very urgent supplemental motion for legislative furlough, the Senator, through her counsel Atty. Teddy Esteban Rigoroso said even before Kian’s case, De Lima has filed several Senate resolutions calling for Senate investigation on the spate of extrajudicial killings.
De Lima, former head of the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) is the staunchest critic of President Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs.
Last year, Senator Richard Gordon submitted a joint resolution of the Senate Committees on Justice and Human Rights and Public Order and Dangerous Drugs saying there was no evidence to show the existence of extrajudicial killings or that the spate of killings is state-sponsored.
In her urgent motion, De Lima said Kian’s death was proof that “the matter needs to be revisited and an inquiry be conducted.”
“Petitioner was precisely elected by more than 14 million Filipino voters because of her well-known and proven commitment to the cause of human rights and the upholding of the Rule of Law.”
“It is clear from the foregoing that Petitioner’s presence and participation during the inquiry into the death of Kian Loyd Delos Santos serves those causes, and is but consistent with petitioner’s mandate and rights under the Constitution and to the right of the Filipino people to be represented in the Senate by the elected senator,” the very urgent motion stated.
The very urgent motion also pointed out that De Lima was still presumed innocent by the Constitution, not a flight risk and has been respectful of the legal processes.
De Lima has a pending petition before the Supreme Court to nullify the charges filed against her. She maintained that there is no evidence linking her to the illegal drug trade inside the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) and that the allegations against her are mere fabrications. CBB
