Court grants De Lima furlough request on May 13 election day

A MUNTINLUPA City Regional Trial Court (RTC) granted the petition of jailed Senator Leila M. De Lima to allow her to vote on May 13 at the polling precinct in Parañaque City where she is registered. In an order dated April 30, Judge Liezel A. Aquiatan of RTC Branch 205 allowed Ms. de Lima to vote under the Commission on Elections’ (Comelec) Escorted Detainee Voting System between 12:00 noon to 2:00 p.m. The senator, however, was ordered to refrain from giving interviews before and after she votes. “(I)t is the policy of the State, to ensure that all qualified voters, including persons deprived of liberty found in jails, prisons and other detention facilities, are provided with access to exercise their right to suffrage,” the court said. Ms. De Lima has been detained for more than two years since February 2017 for allegedly conspiring to commit illegal drug trading inside the national penitentiary when she was Justice secretary. — Vann Marlo M. Villegas