Chiz: Senate as a whole may probe drug war
Senate President Francis Escudero said on Thursday that he has asked Sen. Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa not to lead the Senate investigation into the deadly “Oplan Tokhang” anti-drug war of former President Rodrigo Duterte.
Escudero said the proposal to probe the drug war killings during the Duterte administration was timely because of the ongoing investigation of the House quad committee.
The testimonies of witnesses at the House hearings suggest that Dela Rosa, who was Philippine National Police chief from 2016 to 2018, at least knew of the killings of drug suspects.
Sen. Christopher “Bong” Go was similarly implicated by some witnesses, prompting congressmen to raise questions about the propriety of Dela Rosa or Go heading the Senate investigation.
“I already talked to Senator Bato about that,” Escudero told reporters in Sorsogon City. “I told him, it might be better if he or Senator Go will not lead the committee investigation that may involve them so that there are no allegations that it is impartial and not fair.”
Dela Rosa seemed amenable to recusing himself from the investigation, Escudero said.
“He was okay with it when we exchanged text messages last night. But I will formalize this in the coming days. We will see each other this weekend once I return from Sorsogon,” he added.
Another option
“The committee of the whole is an option,” Escudero said, referring of the proposal of Sen. Risa Hontiveros to convene the entire Senate to investigate the increasingly grave claims emerging from the House probe.
“I will propose to the Senate leadership that a Senate committee of the whole be convened, wherein the entire Senate will investigate the war on drugs of the previous administration,” Hontiveros said in a radio interview.
“Through the Senate committee of the whole, I expect that the victim survivors of the war on drugs will feel more at ease and they’ll be encouraged to participate and testify. We need to hear them out to know the whole truth,” she added.
But Sen. Imee Marcos, who has allied herself with the Duterte camp and earlier declined to join the Senate slate of her brother, President Marcos, was against the idea.
Imee’s objection
“Maybe it would be better if we bring it to court if there is already enough evidence. Let’s bring it to court so that it would not be labeled partisan, self-serving, or otherwise untruthful,” Marcos said during the Kapihan sa Senado forum on Thursday.
“I’m nervous that it will be called self-serving. Then we’ll clash with the House of Representatives,” she added, saying the quad committee investigation had already gathered enough evidence.
“I think the Department of Justice is competent, at this point, to make a case with the help of the [PNP] Criminal Investigation and Detection Group and the National Bureau of Investigation,” she said.
Ranking House leaders, meanwhile, challenged Dela Rosa to clarify his recent statement confirming that Go gave allowances to police officers at the height of the drug war.
Surigao del Sur Rep. Robert Ace Barbers, Laguna Rep. Dan Fernandez, and ACT Teachers Rep. France Castro said the former PNP chief turned senator should explain the nature of these so-called “allowances.”
“If they were indeed allowances, we need to know why they were given and if it followed regulations on the proper use of public funds,” Barbers said.
“Did this come from the confidential and intelligence funds (CIF) of [Davao City] Mayor Rodrigo Duterte and even when he became president?” questioned Castro.
She also challenged the ethical basis of providing police personnel with additional funds on top of their salaries.
“Aside from the source of the funds, is it proper to give police personnel extra funds beyond their pay? I think that the quad committee should also look into this and the Commission on Audit should investigate it,” she said.
One of the House witnesses, former Police Col. Royina Garma, earlier claimed that Duterte offered cash rewards of up to P1 million for each killed drug suspect.
Dela Rosa, who served as Davao City police chief before he became PNP chief under Duterte, denied that there was such a reward system. But he said Go, then the former president’s senior aide, gave out money for “allowances and operational expenses.”
Both Barbers and Fernandez, who are co-chairs of the House quad committee, called on Dela Rosa to appear before the House hearing to explain the alleged cash payments, their origin and if they were channeled through the office of Go.
