SENATOR Leila de Lima, who suffered a mild stroke last April 20, was finally allowed to be taken to the hospital following orders of the court giving her a furlough to seek medical attention.
In an order issued by the Muntinlupa Regional Trial Court Branch 205, Presiding Judge Liezel Aquiatan ruled to favor an “urgent motion” requesting the court’s permission to take De Lima for confinement after she was diagnosed to be suffering from Transient Ischemic Attack or commonly referred to as a “mild stroke.”
According to her lawyers, De Lima has been suffering severe headaches and could hardly get up since April 20, adding that the detained legislator’s on-call physicians “left an impression that Accused De Lima experienced a Transient Ischemic Attack (mild stroke), hence the urgent and extremely important need to rule out a cerebrovascular accident.”
Under such conditions, her doctors cited the urgent need for De Lima to undergo a Brain Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) with contrast at the Manila Doctor’s Hospital, where she had been admitted during her previous medical furlough last February 11.
“Premises considered, and finding the very urgent medical furlough to be meritorious, the same is hereby granted for humanitarian and health reasons,” Judge Aquiatan said.
Interestingly, the court order included a portion preventing lawyers, representatives and family members of the accused from issuing public statements or media interviews.
De Lima will shoulder the cost of her hospitalization.
In a related development, De Lima, who had herself undergone COVID-19 test as a matter of procedure, yielded negative for the deadly virus from Wuhan, China.