President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. is leaving the fate of detained former Senator Leila de Lima for the courts to decide, a Palace official said on Tuesday.
“Her cases are already in the courts so let’s leave her lawyers to make the proper motion,” Office of the Press Secretary officer-in-charge and undersecretary Cheloy Garafil said in a Palace press briefing.
Garafil made the statement when asked for the Malacañang’s comment on Senator Imee Marcos’s offer of a home furlough to the former lawmaker after she was held hostage at Camp Crame on 9 October.
“The President cannot and will not intervene in any case that’s already with the courts,” she said.
“As I said, we’ll leave it up to the court to decide if she’s going to be freed based on the evidence or merits of her case,” she added.
De Lima is currently detained over drug-related charges at the Philippine National Police Custodial Center, but she has repeatedly denied involvement in the Bilibid drug trade.
Marcos expressed concern over the safety of De Lima after she was briefly held hostage in her custodial cell by assailants police said were De Lima’s co-detainees attempting to escape.
Marcos said he will talk to De Lima to check on her condition. The OPS has yet to report whether or not the President already made a visit to the detained former solon.
The police killed the three inmates, including a top Abu Sayyaf militant, after they stabbed a jail officer and held De Lima hostage.