The Department of Justice will not allow detained Senator Leila de Lima to attend the Senate deliberation on the death penalty bill.
Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II stressed that state prosecutors will assail the validity of such motion, saying that De Lima cannot be accorded with such privilege since she is incarcerated.
“When one is incarcerated, some of [his/her] rights and privileges are suspended, the right to participate [in lawmaking] is among them, like what happened to Senators Enrile, Jinggoy Estrada, and Bong Revilla,” Aguirre said, in a text message.
De Lima earlier said she wanted to take part in the deliberations of several important legislation and other official functions in the Senate, while she is under detention on charges of drug trafficking.
“I have refused to allow political persecution and harassment I suffer under the hands of the present administration to prevent me from fulfilling my electoral mandate,” De Lima said.
Early last week, Minority Leader Franklin Drilon also said the they will ask the court to allow De Lima to attend session and committee hearings on important legislative agenda.
“We decided that in critical matters like ‘pag dumating ang death penalty bill sa Senado, hilingin namin na mapagbigyan si Senador De Lima,” Drilon said after he visited the female senator at the Philippine National Police Custodial Center.
“Because she is a duly elected senator and therefore she has every right to participate in the proceedings in the Senate,” the Senate minority leader stressed.