To let her join sessions

“The minimum that I request is for an expression of support for my desire to occasionally be granted furloughs by the court in charge of my detention, for purposes of voting on crucial landmark legislation on a case- to- case basis,” the senator stated in her letter.

De Lima explained that she should be allowed to execute her duties as a lawmaker since the penalties of temporary absolute disqualification and temporary special disqualification for public office do not take effect during her detention.

She said penalties only take effect upon imposition of a judgment of conviction.

De Lima argued that if detention prisoners were allowed by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to register as voters and to vote in general elections from municipal and city jails, she sees no legal barrier in the applicability of the same principle to the case of a detained senator.

She noted that if the courts in the past granted furloughs to detained senators to attend birthdays, it is not too much for the Senate to ask the court in charge of her detention to grant such a consideration, especially since her intention is not merely to go to a birthday party.

“The Senate and your good office will not exactly be going out on a limb in supporting such a request. The fact remains that I am still a Senator of the Republic,” de Lima said in her letter to Pimentel.

De Lima said she sees no reason why the 14 million Filipinos who voted for her in the May 2016 elections should be deprived of their representation in the Senate and have their sovereign mandate discarded without any valid legal reason.