MANILA - Senator Leila de Lima returned to the Philippines Tuesday night following her trip to the United States and Germany for a series of engagements.

Journalists waited for De Lima's arrival at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) but she was nowhere in sight.

The Qatar Airways plane carrying the senator arrived at the NAIA Terminal 1 at 10:48 pm.

In a phone call from the senator's aide, reporters were told that De Lima will not be granting interviews.

The Media Affairs Office said De Lima was accompanied by three of her staff.

De Lima went to the United States to receive a recognition from international political magazine Foreign Policy.

The senator was among the 100 Foreign Policy Global Thinkers recognized in Washington D.C.

De Lima was included in the category "Challengers" and was honored as a global thinker for "standing up to an extremist leader."

In Germany, she delivered a speech at the Annual Conference on Cultural Diplomacy on December 15.

Critics of the embattled senator earlier opposed her overseas travel, saying she may not come back to face cases filed against her in relation to her purported links to the illegal drug trade.