Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, November 16) — Former Senator Leila de Lima has gained temporary liberty after posting bail for her last drug case before a Muntinlupa court.
On CNN Philippines’ Politics As Usual, she talked about what life was like while she spent nearly seven years in detention.
Whether or not she sets an alarm, De Lima said she always begins her day at 4:30 a.m., when the sun has yet to pass through the \”very small\” window of her tiny room that \”really lacks ventilation.\”
\”Since it’s still dark outside my detention room, I stay in, I start with my prayers, I start with reading the bible and also writing either letters, other communications, and reflecting,\” she shared.
When the sun is up, De Lima would go out of her room to do some chores like feeding the cats and birds at the PNP Custodial Center in Camp Crame.
\”Then the breakfast comes. After the breakfast, I read newspapers because I’m allowed newspapers, and then I’d resume my reading of books and writing,\” she added.
De Lima said she usually sends out all her letters through her staff before she takes her lunch, and resumes more reading and writing until evening.
\”From Day 1, I’ve been writing my journals, my reflections of the day, the important happenings of the day, if any,\” she said. \”I have now a collection of thick notebooks of my daily journals.\”
She would repeat feeding the 20 cats in the detention facility, around 5 of which she said she brought with her when she stepped out on Monday.
\”I had to bring them out, I brought them – the five cats. If only I could bring all of them,\” De Lima said. \”They gave me company especially during the pandemic. They’re practically my soul companions so I talk to them once in a while.\”
The 64-year-old former senator said she grew fond of the cats to the point of giving them names: Avatar, Duchess, Doll, Lily, and Pluto.
\”I sleep within 10 to 11 p.m. I don’t have any problem sleeping. I read until I fall asleep,\” she said.
De Lima shared that all breakfast, lunch, and dinner would come from her home, relatives, and friends.
\”I don’t accept food from the custodial center,\” she said. \”It’s for security reasons that my friends advised me not to accept food there.
Since the beginning of her detention in 2017, De Lima said her \”rule of thumb\” has always been \”don’t beg, don’t fear, don’t trust.\”
Nevertheless, she said she was treated well inside the detention facility.
\”They treated me with professionalism. They kept a distance but always with respect and courtesy. Nobody has ever maltreated me there or in any way disrespected me,\” she said.
De Lima, one of the most vocal critics of Duterte, was detained in 2017 for allegedly benefitting from the illegal drug trade inside the New Bilibid Prison when she was the justice secretary. She allegedly used the drug money to fund her senatorial bid in 2016.
She has consistently denied the allegations, saying her detention was the Duterte administration’s way to silence her for her criticisms of its bloody war on drugs.
A Muntinlupa court on Monday allowed De Lima to post bail for her third and remaining drug case, giving her provisional liberty.
The former senator had been acquitted in the two other cases in February 2021 and in May this year.
