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Former Philippine Senator Leila De Lima, a fierce critic of former President Rodrigo Duterte, with Senator Risa Hontiveros following the hostage incident. Office of Senator Risa Hontiveros

Jailed Philippine human rights advocate, lawyer and former senator Leila De Lima was taken hostage Sunday during a breakout attempt of three inmates who were then shot by the police, authorities said.

The hostage taking of De Lima, who is a fierce critic of former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte and his brutal war against illegal drugs, happened inside the custodial center of the headquarters of the national police, where the former senator and justice secretary has been held for over five years on drug charges she and her lawyers have said are trumped up.

Local online news outlet Rappler reported that De Lima was held hostage by Feliciano Sulayao Jr., her fellow detainee who was accused of being a subleader of the Islamic terrorist group Abu Sayyaf.

Sulayao attempted to escape the prison premises with Idang Susukan and Arnel Cabintoy who were alleged to be an Abu Sayyaf subleader and a member of another Islamic terrorist group called Dawlah Islamiyahy before taking De Lima as a hostage.

According to the Philippine National Police, a cop was stabbed during the detainees’ breakout attempt, but police were able to stop them from escaping by firing three shots that hit Cabintoy and Susukan. Sulayao, on the other hand, went straight to De Lima’s cell and held her hostage.

Police then shot Sulayao dead and rescued De Lima from her captor.

In De Lima’s affidavit that was released to reporters, she said that while praying inside her cell, Sulayao entered her room with a sharp object which he pointed to her chest and told her that she needs to come with him.

De Lima narrated what Sulayao told her: “Ma’am my two fellow inmates are already dead, you need to come with me or else they will kill me too."

She also mentioned that she was dragged by Sulayao out of her cell to escape the detention facility, but upon seeing that the gates have been closed, her captor dragged her back to her cell, tied her hands and blindfolded her using towels.

"While blindfolded, he made me sit on a swivel chair facing the inner door while the sharp object was still pointed at my chest," De Lima said.

De Lima's political party, the Liberal Party, expressed alarm at the hostage-taking inside the custodial center in police headquarters, where maximum security should have been in place.

“We seek a full accounting of the incident and find out if there was negligence. We also reiterate our call that government take swift measures to fast-track the resolution of her cases,” Liberal Party’s chairperson, former senator Kiko Pangilinan, said in a statement.

Philippine President Bongbong Marcos offered for De Lima to be transferred on Sunday but her camp rejected the offer with a suggestion to just release her from “solitary confinement on fabricated drug charges.”

De Lima was jailed in 2017 during Duterte's presidency and was charged over her alleged involvement in a drug trafficking scheme which she supposedly earned from — all of which she has firmly denied.

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