Senator Leila de Lima
MANILA, Philippines — After almost two years in detention and two days before Christmas, Senator Leila de Lima finally got her “best” gift – a visit by her mom.
In a dispatch from Camp Crame in Quezon City on Monday, De Lima shared “an incredible moment” in her life when her mother visited her “for the first time” since being jailed in the Custodial Center of the Philippine National Police (PNP) on drug charges.
“I had an incredible moment yesterday (Sunday, December 23). I got my best Christmas gift. My Mom, who’s clueless about my situation, visited me for the first time. A most surprising and unexpected visit,” de Lima said.
De Lima narrated her surprise visitor arrived before the regular 10 a.m. Mass. Her brother and aunt accompanied her 86-year-old mother.
“She came, unannounced, at around 9:00 a.m., or right before our regular 10:00 a.m. Sunday Mass, accompanied by my brother Nonoy and our aunt, Mama Lils,” she said.
“They finally told her I’m in Camp Crame. But her state of dementia (she’s now 86 years old) failed to grasp the real import of such a revelation. It blocked her from reality, with all its pains.”
“It no longer matters to our Mom where I am or what was done to me. All she wanted was to see me, and vice versa. It was an answered prayer for both of us,” De Lima added.
The senator thanked God for the chance to see her mother again.
“God, indeed, has His own ways, different from ours. He throws in His own surprises.
God is great, all the time,” she said. /kga