When actress Vivian Velez shared a piece of information about how Senator Leila De Lima being spotted at the US Embassy, as per her reliable source, it came with this question: “Tatakas na ba?”
“From a reliable source: Just sharing… I was inside the US embassy for my visa renewal interview this morning. We saw De Lima with one of her staff at the non immigrant visa interview section,” Velez posted on Facebook.
Velez’s post has earned over 3,400 shares and 1,400 reactions, as of writing.
And the senator was once more at the receiving end of endless speculation and bashing, with many netizens suggesting that there should be a hold departure order (HDO) that should stop her from leaving the Philippines.
Velez’ post was picked up by blog balitangpinas.net and was shared Facebook fan pages “Kilusang Bagong Lipunan” and “President Rodrigo ‘Rody’ Roa Duterte Supporters.”
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Based on the comments, netizens were disappointed that the Department of Justice is not doing anything about De Lima’s case, while others expressed concern about how this might be the chance for the senator to get away.
Senator De Lima later gave a statement assuring her critics that she will return and that there is “nothing to worry about” as she prepares to travel abroad. According to her statement, she is traveling to the US to receive an award and to Berlin, Germany to serve as speaker at the Annual Conference on Cultural Diplomacy.
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De Lima is set to go abroad from December 11 to 22.
According to her, her trip abroad is a “great opportunity to meet leaders from various fields from around the world and learn from their respective government’s initiatives and challenges about cultural diplomacy.”
She emphasized the importance of these trips as she will speak about “raising awareness and support for human rights,” which is one of her advocacies.
De Lima also addressed how her trips would serve as a “welcome relief and respite to (her) detractors and critics.”
Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II said that the DOJ has no plans of stopping the senator from fulfilling her official commitments abroad because there has been no hold departure order issued against her.
“Acting on the letter of Sen. De Lima relative to her plan to travel abroad, the DOJ has issued an Allow Departure Order or ADO to allow her to travel abroad because no case has yet been filed against her before the courts,” Aguirre said.
Aguirre added that De Lima has furnished a copy of a travel authority from Senate President Aquilino Pimentel III as proof that she is indeed going to travel on official business.
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The latest bit of news about De Lima’s trip is from an ABS-CBN News report in the morning of Monday, December 12, that had the senator traveling en route to Washington, DC from Manila. She took Emirates flight and was expected to arrive at the Dulles Airport in Washington, DC at 8:40 am on December 12 (US time).
She will be accepting her award from the Foreign Policy magazine at the Four Seasons on the same day.
De Lima is reportedly set to spend December 13 and 14 with family, as well as meetings with a few groups in the US.
She will be leaving for Berlin, Germany on December 15. The rest of her engagements are scheduled until December 22.
The DOJ issued an immigration lookout bulletin in October against De Lima and five other people who were allegedly involved with the drug trade at the New Bilibid Prison.
The Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption (VACC) held a protest against De Lima’s overseas trip on Sunday, but all these concerns about the possibility of her escaping her legal woes in the Philippines are mere speculations for now. The Senate President and DOJ allowed her to go abroad, so everyone will surely be waiting if she stays true to her word to return to the country after her overseas engagements.
Sources: (immigration.gov.ph, facebook.com, newsinfo.inquirer.net, news.abs-cbn.com)
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