PRESS STATEMENT
Bukidnon Provincial Jail
Malaybalay, Bukidnon
From ZENAIDA LLESIS

A MOTHER'S PLEA MUST BE HEARD

Once again, I plead for your humanitarian consideration for the welfare and interest of my baby, Gabriela who is with me since the time of my captivity up to now in my detention.

Baby Gabriela who is now ten months old has two congenital defects, namely, 1) ASD, a hole in her heart and 2) a mass on her liver. While the first was diagnosed to have nearly closed relatively stabilizing her heart function, the latter however needs to be immediately addressed.

It was the precondition of the doctors to address the second defect once the baby's heart stabilized. These defects are in the vital organs of my baby. An apt and timely care, management and further evaluation are very much needed.

The doctor (pediatric-surgeon) at the Northern Mindanao Medical Center (NMMC) recommended last September, 2003 to bring my baby to the Philippine Children's Medical Center in Manila where an expert doctor and facilities needed to perform the further evaluation are available. But four (4) months had passed, this need and request to the court yielded negative response.

Lastly, on Dec. 6, 2003, the judge decided not to allow me to accompany my baby to Manila, instead he instructed the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) to make arrangements to bring only the baby.

This decision would make more hardships on the part of my baby who will undergo a delicate medical process. During this difficult time she will need my motherly love, care and attention.

Sending my baby without me and in the hands of strangers would create emotional depression on her part. The baby depends on me since I am breastfeeding her. Without my personal touch and moral support for her, it would be extremely difficult for her to hurdle the process, much less survive from the defect that should be treated.

The DSWD secretary wrote a favorable recommendation for my request but the judge, to my dismay as a mother, stood deaf on my request.

Through my hunger strike I hope the authorities concerned would hear and act expediently on the seriousness of my humanitarian plea.

(released on January 20, 2004, when Zeny went on a hungerstrike after efforts to have her released failed.)