A STAFF of United States (US) Senator Dick Durbin on Thursday visited former Senator Leila M. de Lima in her Camp Crame cell 53 days after she was rescued from a knife-wielding extremist who seized her in what turned out to be a “foiled” jailbreak.

Chris Homan, a senior adviser on national security and foreign policy of United States Democrat Senator Durbin, assisted by some US Embassy personnel, saw for themselves the living conditions of de Lima in her quarters at the maximum-security PNP Custodial Center.

The American team talked with the ex-lawmaker at 9:40 in the morning by a court order issued by the National Capital Region Regional Trial Court Branches 256 and 204 which allowed Homan and three others to visit de Lima.

The visiting team was first received by officials at the Chief, PNP Lounge located at the PNP Grandstand for a briefing and documentation, followed by frisking and depositing personal items before entry at the PNP Custodial Center.

PNPCC chief, Lt. Col. Larry Gabion briefed the American team on the adjusted security measures imposed at the facility following the botched escape attempt by three detained members of the Abu Sayyaf Group last October 9.

Homan was informed that De Lima’s health condition is regularly monitored by PNP doctors. The team was also briefed on De Lima’s own decision to remain at the facility despite a number of offers from the government and the PNP to transfer her detention facility.

De Lima is confined in separate living quarters where she has her own basic furniture and fixtures. It is known that she wants to stay inside the Camp Crame jail, where her living conditions are well compared to other facilities like those run by the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) or the Women’s Correctional Institute being run by the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor).

Apart from being overcrowded, these jail facilities are known to be a “haven of drugs,” weapons, and other contraband, as well as jail gangs running after each other’s throats.

The visitors left the camp at 10:20 in the morning.

The visit was coordinated by the U.S. Embassy in Manila with the PNP leadership and was approved by the PNP Acting Chief of Directorial Staff, Major General Michael John F. Dubria, upon their compliance with all the requirements and necessary security protocols.

Last October 9, three detained extremists identified as Idang Susukan, Arnel Cabintoy, and Feliciano Sulayao Jr. tried to escape from the Camp Crame jail by first repeatedly stabbing a lone guard delivering their meal.

However, an alert tower guard saw the incident and fired shots that killed Susukan, a captured Abu Sayyaf sub-leader, and Cabintoy, a suspected member of the ISIS-inspired Dawlah Islamiyah.

Sulayao, however, was not hit and managed to head toward de Lima’s cell where he took her hostage and made a number of demands. During the negotiation, PNP Headquarters Support Service director Colonel Mark D. Pespes managed to shoot the suspect to death.

De Lima was unhurt in the brief hostage-taking incident.