MANILA, Philippines — (Updated 11:06 a.m.) Sen. Leila de Lima was brought to the hospital Saturday to undergo medical examination after her doctor flagged that she might have experienced a mild stroke.
"The senator is stable; she needs to undergo MRI [magnetic resonance imaging] and other tests to ascertain her current state of health. She is very grateful for all the prayers," De Lima's camp said in a statement.
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Two Muntinlupa courts granted Friday detained opposition De Lima a three-day emergency furlough for further medical examinations.
The Muntinlupa Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 256 and Muntinlupa RTC Branch 205 allowed De Lima to undergo further tests at the Manila Doctors Hospital beginning Saturday. All costs of her medical tests shall be shouldered by De Lima.
De Lima asked for an indefinite medical confinement, but the courts only allowed her to stay for three days at the hospital.
The Muntinlupa RTC Branch 256, however, gave De Lima’s lawyers the option to file another motion should the senator need to be confined at the hospital longer than three days.
De Lima’s doctor, Meophilia Santos-Cao, prescribed that the senator immediately undergo brain magnetic resonance imaging with contrast after she experienced “bouts of headaches and persistent generalized weakness.”
Santos-Cao’s examination of De Lima left her with an impression that the senator experienced a transient ischemic attack, or a mild stroke, according to a court filing.
De Lima has been acquitted in one of three drug cases she is facing, which she has described as trumped up. — Xave Gregorio with a report from Kristine Joy Patag