Senator Leila de Lima has criticized the alleged “efforts” of the Philippine National Police (PNP) to keep the media away from her during a previous hearing at the Quezon City Metropolitan Trial Court Branch 34 last Wednesday.
“May karapatan po sila, ang media. Hayaan niyo sila. And it’s also my right to say something, to express things,” De Lima said as police escorts tried to block reporters’ cameras, according to a statement from her camp on Friday.
(They have a right, the media, let them be.)
According to the detained senator’s camp, it was not the first time that PNP’s security escorts prevented media from covering her, claiming that reporters were blocked on a regular basis.
The opposition senator is facing charges for alleged involvement in the drug trade inside the New Bilibid Prison during her tenure as justice secretary. She is currently detained at the PNP Custodial Center in Camp Crame, Quezon City.
De Lima is a staunch critic of President Rodrigo Duterte even before he assumed presidency and she maintains that her detention is politically motivated.
However, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque has previously emphasized that the De Lima’s charges were not because of her principles but because of drug-related cases.
“The lady Senator was arrested and incarcerated because of serious drug charges where she was accused of allowing the illegal drug trade to proliferate inside the New Bilibid Prison when she was the DOJ Secretary,” Roque said in a previous report. /vvp
READ: Roque rebuffs Aquino: De Lima in jail for drugs, not principles