Former senator Leila de Lima (left), former president Rodrigo Duterte (Facebook,  Malacañang photo)

Former senator Leila de Lima wished for the speedy recovery of former president Rodrigo Duterte, who failed to attend the scheduled House quad-committee (quad-comm) hearing Tuesday, Oct. 22.

"I hope he gets well na, so he would have the health to face the music," De Lima told House reporters ahead of her participation as a resource person in the ninth quad-comm hearing that same day. 

Duterte, 79, was also expected to attend the hearing, until his counsel, lawyer Martin Delgra III, sent quad-comm overall chairman, Surigao del Norte 2nd district Rep. Robert Ace Barbers a letter on Monday, Oct.21 to express his regrets due to alleged health reasons. 

"Sana, Ginoong Duterte, sana gumaling na kayo, magpagaling po kayo, para mayroon kang lakas na harapin ang lahat," said De Lima, also a former Department of Justice (DOJ) secretary. 

(I hope, Mr. Duterte, I hope you recover, please recover, so that you'll have the strength to face everything.) 

READ THIS: 

https://mb.com.ph/2024/10/21/ex-president-can-t-attend-quad-comm-hearing 

Delgra's letter to Barbers read: "Considering his (Duterte) advanced age and the several engagements he had to attend, he is currently not feeling well and is in need of much rest." 

At any rate, Duterte, through Delgra, expressed a willingness to attend a future quad-comm hearing, "preferably after 01 November 2024". 

De Lima was incarcerated for alleged drug charges on Feb. 24, 2017, or less than a year into Duterte’s presidency. 

She was released on Nov. 13, 2023, when President Marcos was already at the helm in Malacañang. All her drug charges have been dropped.