De Lima’s dilemma: Tell ma I’m in prison or not?

Senator Leila de Lima’s mugshot. FROM POLICE SOURCES

Senator Leila de Lima is facing a dilemma: Whether or not to tell her 84-year-old mother that she is in detention, and not on a foreign trip.

In a two-page handwritten letter dated March 13, De Lima said her mother had no inkling about her current situation.

“What my brothers and sister have told her is that I’m abroad for an official business. Keep debating with myself—shall we tell her or not that her daughter is in prison?” wrote the senator, who has been detained since February 24 over drug charges.

“I’m sure that she has started to wonder why my foreign trip is taking so long given my preference for brevity of such trips. My siblings can no longer justify to her my prolonged absence.

“But knowing the truth about what was done to me by this vengeful President and his ilk will surely cause her misery and grief — an unnecessary pain. This is a real dilemma for our family,” De Lima said, apparently referring to President Rodrigo Duterte.

In a separate letter this Tuesday, the senator continued her attacks against certain public officials, calling them “lying bastards” for linking her to the illegal drug trade.

“God help us that there (are) unsavory characters such as Speaker (Pantaleon) Alvarez, Secretary of Justice (Vitaliano) Aguirre and Solicitor General (Jose Calida) holding sensitive and otherwise venerable positions in our government,” she said.

“Nakakasuka na po ang mga kasinungalingan nila. Pilit nilang nilalason ang isipan ng sambayanan sa mga imbentong paratang nila sa akin (No.1 drug lord, public enemy No. 1, etc.)

(Their lies nauseate me. They’re poisoning the minds of the public with the made-up accusations against me.)

“Lying bastards! Our people do not deserve such venomous bunch of public servants,” De Lima added. JE/rga