Lagman: Free, not transfer, de Lima

Rep. Edcel C. Lagman Representative, First District of Albay and President, Liberal Party of the Philippines. File Photo 

ALBAY First District Rep. Edcel Lagman said former senator Leila de Lima must be freed instead of being given the option to be moved to another place of detention.

Lagman, the Liberal Party president, said in a statement that de Lima “must be granted freedom from a five-year… confinement on fabricated drug charges” instead of being given the option to be moved to another place of detention.

“If her police custodians cannot secure her from a hostage-taker, once liberated the people themselves can be her guardians to protect her from harm,” he said.

“The culpable laxity of her jailers has allowed an armed intruder to penetrate her cell and seize her hostage,” Lagman said.

On Sunday morning, de Lima was taken hostage at the Philippine National Police Custodial Center in Camp Crame by a person under police custody.

In a post on Twitter, President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. said that he “will be speaking to Senator de Lima to check on her condition and to ask if she wishes to be transferred to another detention center.”

De Lima has been detained since 2017 over drug-related charges. She has denied the allegations against her.

Last year, one of the three cases filed against her was dismissed.