[VIDEO] Leila de Lima on being hostaged by a fellow inmate

The Howie Severino Podcast

Three months after being released on bail, former senator and prisoner of conscience Leila de Lima describes in graphic and terrifying detail the day in prison when she was held captive by an Abu Sayyaf inmate known for beheading hostages.

She reveals that after the hostage taker was shot dead and she was rescued, she received a concerned call from President Marcos, an early sign that his alliance with the Dutertes could be cracking.

That was her scariest moment, she says, but not among her darkest, which were the times she wasn't allowed a furlough from jail to attend the wakes of close friends, including PNoy.

Not originally a cat lover, she adopted stray cats in prison to keep her company. She took several home after her release and one of them insisted on joining her for this interview.

Otherwise, she was in solitude for nearly seven years while imprisoned in Camp Crame and one of the rare VIP inmates without a mobile phone. "I wanted to follow the rules," she tells Howie Severino. She also was not allowed access to the Internet, so she kept up with the outside world through print newspapers and printouts of online articles delivered by her senate staff.

She says she never lost faith in the judicial system, which she's confident will vindicate her and declare her innocent of all charges.

Yet for the alleged crimes of former President Rodrigo Duterte, she says the only recourse is the International Criminal Court because there is a "clear demonstration of the unwillingness and inability" of the Philippine justice system to investigate.

"That's one of the reasons why nagwawala na si Duterte. Out na ang antagonism niya kay President Marcos because I think he suspects the BBM administration is really cooperating with the ICC."

Meanwhile, as she vows to assist the ICC gather evidence, de Lima is back to teaching law and spending time with her aged mother, who was never told by her protective family what her famous daughter went through.