Conflict of interest issue raised vs Bato plan
SENATE deputy minority leader Risa Hontiveros yesterday said the Senate Committee of the Whole, not the Committee on Public Order and Dangerous Drugs chaired by Sen. Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa, should conduct the probe on the Duterte administration’s bloody war on drugs amid new revelations made during the hearings of the quad committee of the House of Representatives.
Hontiveros, in an interview with radio dzXL, said the all-senators probe would encourage more resource persons to come out and testify against the previous administration campaign against illegal drugs.
On Wednesday, Dela Rosa said that as chairperson of the Committee on Public Order and Dangerous Drugs, he would conduct a motu propio investigation on the previous administration’s war on drugs and invite former President Rodrigo Duterte as a resource person.
But Hontiveros said: “Ipapanukala ko po sa Senate leadership na magkaroon ng Senate Committee of the Whole (investigation) kung saan buong Senado ang mag-iimbestiga sa war on drugs ng nakaraang administrasyon (I will propose to the Senate leadership to have a Senate Committee of the Whole investigation where all senators can participate in the investigation on the war on drugs of the past administration).”
“Dapat marinig natin ang buong katotohanan (We should all hear the truth),” she added.
She said the Committee of the Whole will be headed by the Senate president who will decide who will be invited in the hearing
“Yung lider po ng chamber, o ‘yung Senate president, sila po ang mag-de-desisyon at maglalabas ng imbitasyon sa mga itutukoy na resource person (The leader of the upper chamber or the Senate president will decide who to invite as resource persons),” she also said.
“Ang kagandahan din po ng Senate Committee of the Whole ay lahat po ng buong Senado ay may pantay-pantay na karapatan na mag-imbestiga sa paksang iyon (Convening the Senate Committee of the Whole would mean that senators will have equal rights to investigate the matter),” she added.
Senate president Francis Escudero said he would discuss Hontiveros’ proposal with the other senators.
He said the Committee of the Whole probe is an “option,” but he will look for another committee that can handle the hearing other than Dela Rosa’s panel.
Escudero said he has advised exchanged text messages with Dela Rosa and advised him against leading the Senate probe.
“Nakausap ko na si Sen. Bato kaugnay niyan. Ang sinabi ko sa kanya, anumang imbestigasyon na nais niya patungkol sa kanya mismo at Sen. Go, mas maganda siguro kung hindi sila mismo ang manguna ng komiteng iyon para walang alegasyon na ito ay personal at hindi impartial at hindi fair. Yun ang haharapin namin sa mga susunod na araw (I have talked with Sen. Bato regarding that matter. I told him that it is best that neither him nor Sen. Go lead the committee investigation on matters that concern them so there won’t be allegations that it is personal, not partial, and unfair. We will discuss this in the coming days),” he said.
He said Dela Rosa took his advice well. “Magkikita kami itong weekend pagbalik ko, pagkatapos ng kinailangan kong lang gawin dito sa Sorsogon (We will meet this weekend when I return, after I finish what I need to do here in Sorsogon),” he added.
Dela Rosa has said that his panel’s probe, which will be conducted parallel to the ongoing House quad committee hearings, will look into the allegations made before the lower house, particularly on the supposed existence of a rewards system for killings related to the Duterte administration’s drug war.
Former Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) general manager Royima Garma has told the House joint panel that Davao City’s reward system which involved the giving of monetary rewards to cops who kill drug suspects was implemented on a national scale when Duterte became president in 2016.
Garma said the system was implemented by the PNP.
Garma had linked former National Police Commission (NAPOLCOM) commissioner and former police Col. Edilberto Leonardo, who was then chief of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) in Region 11, to the implementation of the reward system, suggesting that he was privy to key decisions during the anti-drug operations under the Duterte administration.
Garma has also alleged that Dela Rosa, who was Duterte’s first PNP chief, knew about the scheme, while Go supposedly was involved in the distribution of the monetary rewards.
The two senators have denied Garma’s allegations.
Aside from the reward system, Dela Rosa said his panel’s probe would also include the allegations made by former Bureau of Customs intelligence officer Jimmy Guban during the House hearings that the P11-billion worth of shabu smuggled into the country through magnetic lifters were allegedly “owned” By Davao Rep. Paolo “Pulong” Duterte, son of the former president; lawyer Manases Carpio, husband of Vice President Sara Duterte; and Michael Yang, the former president’s economic adviser.
Go has said he will file a resolution so the Senate can conduct a parallel investigation with the House quad committee presently investigating Duterte’s war on drugs, among others.
Go said has accused Garma of dishing out baseless accusations.
The PNP said it will reopen the investigation on the drug war killings, an announcement that was backed Malacañang.
CONFLICT OF INTEREST
One of the four chairmen of the House quad committee which is investigating the extrajudicial killings under the Duterte administration’s bloody war on drugs said there is a clear conflict of interest in Dela Rosa’s plan to call for a separate Senate investigation into the same issue because of his involvement as chief implementor of the drug war when he was still the PNP chief.
“Delicadeza na lang sana ang pairalin ni Sen. Bato (Sen. Bato should observe delicadeza). For me, it is highly inappropriate for him, the chief enforcer of the drug war, to lead a probe into the very operations he designed and implemented,” said Sta. Rosa City Rep. Dan Fernandez.
“This Senate investigation risks becoming a whitewash if its leadership is not changed. Sen. Dela Rosa cannot lead this Senate investigation because there is an obvious conflict of interest. He was at the helm of this war, so he cannot objectively lead the investigation,” he said.
“As the architect of the war on drugs, Sen. Bato would be practically investigating himself. This undermines the integrity and objectivity of any findings that may result from this investigation,” he also said.
Fernandez, who chairs the House Committee on Public Order and Safety, said the PNP under Dele Rosa’s leadership was marked by widespread reports of EJKs, some of which have been linked to a cash rewards system allegedly designed to incentivize “drug kills.”
Fernandez said an inquiry into the EJK “must be impartial, transparent and independent.” “Sen. Bato will have none of that since he is part of the personalities being investigated. He cannot claim to offer any of these guarantees,” he said.
Fernandez urged the Senate leadership “to assign a more independent senator to lead the inquiry, someone who has not been directly involved in the execution of the policies being scrutinized.”
“Accountability requires that those who were part of the implementation of questionable policies take a step back from leading investigations into their own actions. The Filipino people deserve a credible and honest probe, not one marred by conflicts of interest,” he said.
Surigao del Norte Rep. Robert Ace Barbers, overall chair of the quad comm, said: “Hindi maaaring si Sen. Bato mismo ang mamuno sa imbestigasyon na ito. May conflict of interest dahil siya mismo ang nasa sentro ng pagpapatupad ng kampanya. Dapat siya ang magbigay ng mga kasagutan, hindi siya ang dapat mag-lead ng investigation (Sen. Bato cannot lead this investigation. There’s conflict of interest because he’s at the center of the implementation of the campaign. He should give the answers, he’s not the one who should lead the investigation).”
Barbers said the quad committee is in favor of Hontiveros’ call for the Committee of the Whole to conduct the probe.
“We fully support Sen. Hontiveros’ push for the Senate to conduct its own investigation. The House and Senate must work together to uncover the truth and ensure accountability for the thousands of lives lost,” he said, adding that “we are very pleased that both Houses of Congress are of one mind in this.”
Barbers also said Dela Rosa has to clarify his statement confirming that police officers received cash payments, which he called “allowances,” allegedly coursed through the office of Go, who was then special assistant to the president.
“Kung totoo nga na mayroong ‘allowances’ na binibigay, dapat ipaliwanag ni Sen. Bato kung bakit, kanino ito napunta, at saan ito nanggaling (If it’s true that allowances were given, Sen. Bato needs to explain who received it and where the money came from),” he said.
Barbers said Dela Rosa’s acknowledgment of the payments “warrants further scrutiny,” stressing that “it is vital to establish whether the necessary safeguards were followed in the disbursement of public funds.”
Antipolo City Rep. Romeo Acop, a senior vice chair of all the four committees comprising the quad committee, earlier said the drug war reward system was the reason why police killed Mayor Espinosa of Albuera, Leyte who was on the Duterte administration’s drug list.
Acop said police operatives killed Espinosa because of the substantial reward that the previous administration offered to cops and hired guns who killed drug suspects.
Acop, during the quad committee’s hearing last Friday, offered his assessment of what then Region 8 Criminal Investigation and Detention Group (CIDG) chief Col. Marvin Marcos and his team did.
Espinosa was killed inside the Baybay City sub-provincial jail in November 2016 in an alleged shootout with Region 8 policemen trying to serve a search warrant on him.
The mayor, one of numerous local officials Duterte had linked to illegal drugs, had been in jail since the previous month after he was arrested for illegal drug possession.
At the time Espinosa was killed, Jovie Espenido, now a retiring lieutenant colonel and one of Duterte’s poster boys in its war on drugs, was chief of police of Albuera town.
Sen. Imee Marcos said that while she understands why Dela Rosa and Go wants to conduct a parallel investigation on the drug war issue, she said they would be accused of having self-serving interests if they lead the Senate inquiry.
“Kinakabahan ako na masabi na self-serving. Maliwanag dapat na ano ang hatian ng trabaho ng tatlong sangay ng pamahalaan (I am worried that the investigation might be thought of as self-serving. The division of work should be clear among the three branches of government),” she said at the “Kapihan sa Senado” media forum.
Besides, she added, the quad committee has unearthed evidence against the Duterte administration’s war on drugs that can already be filed in court for proper legal action.
“Marami na tayong nasakop na katibayan. Dalhin na sa korte so that hindi masabihang self-serving. It’s time that the DOJ be ordered to file charges as necessary (We have seen lots of evidence. Bring them to court so that they will not be accused of having self-serving interests. It’s time that the Department of Justice be ordered to file charges as necessary),” she said.
She said justice should be swiftly given to the victims of the war on drugs by punishing those who committed crimes in its implementation.
“Palagay ko okay naman (ang Senate investigation). Siyempre karapatan ni Sen. Bato and Sen. Go na ipagtanggol ang sarili nila. Ako ay nagmamadali lang…Ang hinahabol ko swift justice kasi masyado nang matagal (I think the [planned] Senate investigation is good. Sen. Dela Rosa and Sen. Go have the right to defend themselves. But for me, I want to see quick justice…I am after swift justice because the cases have been dragging too long),” she said.
“I am not passing judgment on the work of my colleagues but I’m protective also with our institution. Puwede na dalhin sa korte para matapos na (We can bring the cases to the court so we will have a closure). We have to come to an end with this blame game,” she added.
