De Lima asks court permission to visit ailing mother

Sen. Leila de Lima INQUIRER file photo

MANILA, Philippines — Detained Senator Leila De Lima has asked the Muntinlupa Regional Trial Court to allow her to visit her ailing 86-year-old mother in Camarines Sur.

In her very urgent motion for furlough, the Senator asked the court that she be permitted to visit Norma Magistrado De Lima on August 15 or sooner.

She told the court that it could be the last time she will get to see her mother.

“As a daughter, she owes everything to the woman who gave her life and, in her present predicament, the only way she could show her deepest love and appreciation for her mother’s love and care over the last 60 years is to be with her in her last moments on earth,” De Lima said.

Last Sunday, her mother was taken to the Villanueva Tanchuling General Hospital in Iriga City for “body malaise, altered level of consciousness, hyponatremia,” according to the detained senator.

She said she was informed by the doctors that her mother is in critical condition “and is said to be expected to further quickly deteriorate.”

The senator’s family was also informed that because due to her mother’s advanced age and overall declining health, administering more drugs would no longer do much good.

De Lima said she has only seen her mother twice since she was arrested on February 24, 2017 – first on December 23, 2018 when her mom was brought to her detention center in Camp Crame for a Christmas visit, and on June 16 this year for the thanksgiving dinner of the senator’s son, Vincent Joshua De Lima Bohol, who passed the Bar. 

The Senator pleaded for “the utmost kind consideration of the Honorable Court, as a daughter who wants to be able to see and, perhaps, hold her mother close for the last time.” /kga