Senator Leila De Lima INQUIRER/ MARIANNE BERMUDEZ
Sen. Leila de Lima, who is detained on drug charges, petitioned the Supreme Court on Tuesday for a legislative furlough to attend the Senate hearing on the death of 17-year-old Kian delos Santos.
The hearing was scheduled to begin on Thursday.
In her 13-page petition, De Lima said the urgency to perform her duties as a senator had become “more critically apparent” following the killing of Delos Santos during an antidrug operation in Caloocan City last week under “highly suspect and extremely disturbing” circumstances.
De Lima said that even in detention she continued to be a staunch defender of human rights.
“It is clear from the foregoing that [my] presence and participation during the inquiry into the death of Kian delos Santos serves those causes, and is but consistent with [my] mandate and rights under the Constitution, and to the right of the Filipino people to be represented in the Senate by the elected Senator,” said her petition.
In asking for a brief leave from detention, De Lima said she was not a flight risk and had no intention of fleeing.
She also pointed out that the court had previously granted the furlough to detainees for varying reasons, like attending a birthday celebration, a relative’s wake and funeral, a graduation ceremony, Christmas and New Year, and undergoing dental surgery.
De Lima said her request was “no less significant” than in the other instances she had cited.
The senator dared President Duterte to issue a clear and categorical order to the police to immediately stop the killings.
“Any other way to appease the growing outrage sparked by Delos Santos’ killing and other recent incidents of summary execution under the mantle of
the ‘One-Time, Big-Time’ operations would be insufficient as it is hypocritical,” she stated.