De Lima asks Muntinlupa courts to allow online video call with ailing mom
Detained Sen. Leila de Limas has asked two Muntinlupa courts to allow her to have an online video call with her mother who is in critical condition after contracting the coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
De Lima filed the urgent motion on Feb. 3 with the Muntinlupa Regional Trial Court Branches 204 and 256, which are handling her cases for conspiracy to commit illegal drug trading that were filed by the Department of Justice in 2017.

In her motion, De Lima said her 89-year-old mom, Norma Magistrado de Lima, tested positive for COVID-19 on Jan. 10.
Mrs. De Lima was admitted to the Villanueva-Tanchuling Maternity and General Hospital in Iriga City on Jan. 22.
But on Feb. 1, Mrs. De Lima’s “vital signs, including her pulse rate and oxygen saturation levels, were observed to be in decline.” She was transferred to the NICC Doctors Hospital in Naga City on Feb. 2.
Since her detention in 2017, De Lima said she had only seen her mother three times including in August 2019 when a Muntinlupa court granted her “very urgent motion for furlough to visit her mother in the family's Iriga City residence during a critical illness.”
De Lima was informed that her “mother is continuing to experience labored breathing, and is in and out of consciousness. Given the positive COVID-19 tests previously administered, in addition to Mrs. De Lima’s advanced age and overall declining health, it is extremely urgent that accused De Lima be given the opportunity to see her mother, even through online video conferencing, without further delay, preferably within the day,” according to the motion.
“Accused De Lima appeals to the utmost kind consideration of the Honorable Court, as a daughter who wants to be able to see her mother during this critical time,” the motion added.
The motion stated that “accused De Lima respectfully prays that the Honorable Court grant her Extremely Urgent Motion for Online Video Conference Call as soon as possible, preferably within the day, in order to allow her to see her ailing mother, Mrs. Norma Magistrado De Lima, even through virtual means.”