De Lima granted medical furlough – counsel

MANILA, Philippines — Senator Leila de Lima has obtained a medical furlough for a check-up, her legal counsel said on Tuesday.

In an interview transcript sent to reporters by de Lima’s office, lawyer Rolly Peoro confirmed that they submitted a request for a 24-hour medical furlough.

“Nag-apply ho kami ng medical furlough at kami’y nagpapasalamat sa ating mga korte na pinayagan kami. Pinaayos po namin yung mga detalye. Matagal na ho ito na medical furlough ni Senator de Lima, in 2018, 2019 pa. Pero ngayon, kailangan na talagang gawin. Kailangan nang gawin. Na-delay lang ng na-delay dahil sa pandemic,” Peoro said.

(We applied for a medical furlough and we are thankful that our courts allowed it. We are ironing out the details. This has been long overdue, in 2018, in 2019. But now, we really need it to happen. It was delayed due to the pandemic.)

“So inaayos ho namin yung detalye. Ano ho ito, kailangan ho talagang ma-checkup ni Senator De Lima dahil nga ho senior citizen at may mga ilang nararamdaman na,” he added.

(So we are finalizing the details. Senator de Lima really needs to have a check-up because she is a senior citizen.)

Since February 2017, de Lima has been detained at the PNP Custodial Center on drug charges in three separate divisions of the Muntinlupa RTC for her suspected participation in the New Bilibid Prison drug trade.

The senator has consistently denied the government charges against her, saying that the charges against her are “trumped-up.”

“Ang ni-request ho namin sana hanggang matapos yung mga examination at mabigay ho sana ay 24 hours. So kailangan ho namin tapusin yung mga examinations na yun in 24 hours,” Peoro went on.

(We requested that we be given 24 hours. So the medical examinations should be completed within 24 hours.)

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