De Lima asks for furlough to attend Senate probe on Kian's slay

MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Leila de Lima on Tuesday filed a very urgent supplemental motion for a legislative furlough to attend the Senate hearing on the killing of a 17-year-old senior high school student in Caloocan City.

On Sunday, members of the Senate majority bloc signed a resolution condemning the killing of Kian delos Santos and other drug-related deaths.

The 17 senators also signed the resolution directing the appropriate Senate committee to conduct an inquiry and determine the accountability of the Philippine National Police in the conduct of the drug war.

The first hearing is set on August 24 at 2 p.m. at the Senate and other subsequent hearings will be set by the appropriate Senate panel.

READ: Senate majority condemns Kian’s slay, calls for probe

Sen. Leila M. de Lima files supplemental motion for furlough to the SC to attend Senate probe on Kian's slay and recent drug killings. pic.twitter.com/iltpCpsdkO

— Leila de Lima (@SenLeiladeLima) August 22, 2017

In her motion, De Lima told the Supreme Court that the gravity and urgency that she be allowed to discharge her mandate as a senator has become apparent in the killing of Delos Santos.

The detained senator noted that Sen. Richard Gordon, chair of the Senate committee on justice and human rights, stated that “there is enough evidence to warrant an inquiry into the killing of Delos Santos as caught by a CCTV camera of the barangay where he was gunned down.” 

"It is a well-known and unfortunate fact that Kian is not the first casualty in the so-called 'war on drugs,' nor the first to be killed under suspicious circumstances," De Lima said.

De Lima warned that the so-called war on drugs could get "bloodier" and that there is a need to reassure the public that they are protected from those who claim the role of "judge, jury and executioner" without due process.

"In light of the foregoing, Petitioner hereby reiterates her plea before this Honorable Court for legislative furlough, not just in her own capacity as a duly elected member of the Senate of the Republic of the Philippines, but also on behalf of the millions of Filipinos she represents, pursuant to the mandate she received when more than 14 million Filipinos voted for her in the 2016 national elections," the motion read. — Patricia Lourdes Viray