To run or not to run: It depends on De Lima’s gut feel

As the administration makes a list of potential candidates for the Senate, one of those believed to be already on the list remains tight-lipped about her plans.

“You will know,” Justice Secretary Leila de Lima told reporters when asked late Friday if she was running for the Senate.

De Lima returned to Manila on Thursday evening after two days in The Hague, where she observed the first round of oral arguments in the Philippines’ petition to nullify China’s claim to nearly the entire South China Sea at a United Nations arbitral court.

Asked whether she’d had time to ponder a run for the Senate during the long flight home from the Netherlands, De Lima laughed and said: “What I did was sleep, read a little and watch movies.”

She earlier described the experience to be “like attending a crash yet extensive course on international humanitarian law on the sea,” lauding the Philippine legal team as “sterling” for its handling of the country’s presentation.

On Friday, she buckled down to work, holding a series of meetings at the Department of Justice.

De Lima earlier said in a radio interview that her mind was already 80-percent made up to run for the Senate in next year’s elections.

But she said she preferred to concentrate on her work, as announcing her candidacy early could court criticism that she would use her Cabinet job to mount an early campaign.

In a recent interview with the Inquirer, De Lima said her mind could still change.

“It could still go the other way. It will depend on developments in the coming days,” De Lima said.

“It depends on my gut feel,” she added.