Placing Senator Leila de Lima under the immigration lookout bulletin order (ILBO) “unduly criminalizes” her, Senator Risa Hontiveros said on Monday.

Hontiveros said the ILBO issued by the Department of Justice against De Lima and five others for their alleged involvement in the proliferation of illegal drugs at the New Bilibid Prison was “unnecessary” since no case had been filed in court yet.

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“The first time this order was implemented was in 2011 against several DBP (Development Bank of the Philippines) officials who were officially charged as a result of a behest loans controversy. The same thing can’t be said of Sen. De Lima,” she added.

“While the order does not prevent Senator Leila De Lima from leaving the country, it unduly criminalizes her. It gives the impression that Senator De Lima is already a person of interest, worse, a suspect to a crime, when in fact, no charges have been filed against her nor was she convicted of any,” Hontiveros said in a text message.

“The first time this order was implemented was in 2011 against several DBP (Development Bank of the Philippines) officials who were officially charged as a result of a behest loans controversy. The same thing can’t be said of Sen. De Lima,” she added.

De Lima and Hontiveros ran together in the May 9, 2016, elections under the Liberal Party-led senatorial ticket. They are also both members of the so-called “supermajority” bloc in the Senate.

De Lima said she would take legal action against Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II for putting her under the ILBO. CBB/rga

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