(Eagle News)–A United States Senate panel has approved an amendment to a bill that aims to prohibit the entry of Philippine government officials involved in the imprisonment of Senator Leila de Lima.
“Good to see the Senate Appropriations Committee pass my amendment with @SenatorLeahy today to prohibit entry to any Philippine Government Officials involved in the politically motivated imprisonment of Filipina Senator Leila de Lima in 2017. We must #FreeLeilaNow,” US Senator Dick Durbin said in a Tweet.
Earlier, Durbin and US Senators Marco Rubio, Ed Markey, Marsha Blackburn and Chris Coons filed a resolution condemning De Lima’s detention, which they said was due to trumped-up charges.
The Palace has maintained, however, that De Lima was detained due to drug-related raps in connection with her alleged role in the illegal drug trade in the New Bilibid Prison when she was justice secretary.
In a recent joint Senate panel hearing on the problems in the Bureau of Corrections, former BuCor officer-in-charge Rafael Ragos said De Lima benefited from the corruption in the New Bilibid Prison.
He said he and former National Bureau of Investigation agent Jovencio Ablen Jr. delivered at one point P5 million to her house for her campaign kitty for senator.
Ragos said this was repeated a second time.
Ablen has confirmed Ragos’ statement.