Duterte says De Lima 100% safe at PNP jail

Senator Leila de Lima AP

Sen. Leila de Lima is “100 percent” safe at the Philippine National Police Custodial Center, President Duterte said on Monday.

“I think people are interested not to see her dead but to see her in prison for what she did,” Mr. Duterte said.

It was now up to the courts to decide on the cases against her, he said.

Asked if the same treatment would also be applied to government critics like De Lima, Mr. Duterte said: “You’re a critic of what, of the drug campaign and you are, yourself into drugs? You should be afraid.”

“Suffice it to say that she is very safe there inside. We treat her the same way that we treat other high-profile inmates, like her fellow senators,” PNP Director General Ronald dela Rosa said during a press briefing on Monday.

No special treatment

“Her fellow senators have no [air conditioner] or cold water so it’s also the same for her. We give equal treatment to everyone,” he added.

Former Senators Bong Revilla and Jinggoy Estrada are also detained at the PNP jail.
Dela Rosa said he visited De Lima on her first night in jail on Friday.

“She welcomed me. I talked to her and told her, ‘Ma’am, if your problem is security, you’re very secured here. You’ll have no problem. You’re very safe,’” he said.

“She was OK. She didn’t cry when we talked. She was relaxed. I asked her if she was OK because the wall on one side had just been repainted and she had asthma. She said it was OK with her,” he added.

Due process

Sen. Sonny Angara said at the Meet Inquirer Multimedia Forum on Monday that he hoped De Lima would be accorded due process.

“I think it is also a test for the administration to ensure that she is safe because if something happens to her, who is the No. 1 suspect? It will appear that maybe there is an effort to harm her. I think there is a lot at stake for everyone here with the imprisonment of Sen. de Lima,” Angara said.

Sen. JV Ejercito expressed concern for De Lima. “You must remember she was a former DOJ secretary and as such she may have stepped on so many toes before that makes her safety a concern,” Ejercito said. —REPORTS FROM CHRISTINE O. AVENDAÑO, PHILIP C. TUBEZA AND NIKKO DIZON