A Philippine senator critical of President Rodrigo R. Duterte has asked a trial court to reconsider its decision denying her plea to let her attend Senate online sessions.
Senator Leila M. de Lima on June 1 sought permission to participate in virtual sessions while being detained in a police jail. The court rejected her request on June 17.
“The last word of the Supreme Court on the matter is that so long as the detained legislator is able to perform legislative functions within his or her place of detention, there is nothing in the law that prevents him or her from doing so,” she said in her motion for reconsideration dated June 22.
Ms. de Lima, a staunch critic of Mr. Duterte’s deadly drug war, has been in jail on drug trafficking charges since February 2017.
