Malacañang made no comment on calls to grant former Senator Leila De Lima a home furlough after she was held hostage at the Camp Crame on Sunday.
President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. will only keep himself away from De Lima's case and let the courts handle it.
During a press briefing on Tuesday, Oct. 11, Undersecretary and Office of the Press Secretary officer-in-charge (OIC) Cheloy Velicaria-Garafil said the President "will not intervene" with the former senator's case.
"Ang mga kaso po ni Leila de Lima ay nasa korte na, so hayaan na lang po natin ang mga abogado niya (The case of Leila de Lima is already in court, so let her lawyers) to make the proper motion. The President cannot and will not intervene in any case that’s already with the courts," Garafil said.
The Palace official also made no comment if the President will consider calls for the Department of Justice (DOJ) to drop the charges against the detained former senator.
"As I said, we’ll leave it up to the court to decide if she’s going to be freed based on the evidence or merits of her case," she said.
De Lima was briefly held hostage by a fellow detainee who attempted to escape from the Philippine National Police (PNP) Custodial Center in Camp Crame on Oct. 9.
After the incident, Marcos said he will be speaking to De Lima to check on her condition and to ask if she wishes to be transferred to another detention center.
He also ordered the PNP to ensure that this kind of incident will never happen again in any detention facility in the country.
Three witnesses on the drug trade charges filed against De Lima have recanted their allegations against her, claiming they have been coerced and threatened by state agents and key government officials of the Duterte administration.