De Lima allowed to visit sick mother

JAILED Senator Leila M. de Lima has been allowed to visit her sick mother at the hospital, with conditions.

In separate orders, two trial courts said the lawmaker, who is on trial for drug trafficking, may leave on Aug. 14 and must come back two days later. She was barred from using communication gadgets and giving media interviews.

Police will escort Ms. de Lima, a critic of President Rodrigo R. Duterte’s deadly war on drugs, during her two-day furlough.

The senator earlier sought permission to visit her 86-year-old mother who is in critical condition. Doctors, she said, have advised the patient not to take more drugs because of her age.

Ms. De Lima has been detained since February 2017 after she was indicted for allowing the illegal drug trade inside the national jail in Muntinlupa City while serving as Justice secretary.

Mr. Duterte’s political opponents have accused him of attempting to quash dissent after Ms. de Lima’s arrest in 2017. The senator has been criticizing the president’s drug crackdowns since he was a local mayor. — Vann Marlo M. Villegas