Duterte, Bato ready for Senate drug war probe

MANILA, Philippines — It’s definitely a go for former president Rodrigo Duterte at tomorrow’s Senate Blue Ribbon subcommittee hearing on his deadly drug war, according to Sen. Ronald dela Rosa, who may also have to answer allegations of his complicity in the thousands of deaths that became the trademark of the crackdown against illegal drugs.

In a radio interview, Dela Rosa said he felt no need to prepare for a face-off tomorrow with some personalities, including a suspected drug lord and several ranking police officers, who had linked him to a reward system in the enforcement of Duterte’s campaign to neutralize suspected drug offenders.

The accusations against Dela Rosa were raised at the hearings by the quad committee of the House of Representatives on extrajudicial killings during the Duterte administration’s war on drugs.

 “I can answer them point by point without preparation. I will share my personal knowledge, not chismis or opinion,” Dela Rosa said over radio dwIZ yesterday.

“There is no need for preparation when it comes to the truth. Everything will come out naturally in the course of the hearing. No need to rehearse,” he added.

Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel III will lead the Senate investigation.

Dela Rosa confirmed that he recently had dinner with Duterte, the latter’s partner Honeylet Avanceña and Davao del Norte Rep. Pantaleon Alvarez in Davao City after attending a gun show.

He claimed they did not talk about the coming Senate Blue Ribbon committee hearing.

Duterte boarded his flight to Manila after that dinner, Dela Rosa said. The former president earlier begged off from a quad comm investigation, saying he was invited on very short notice. His camp said he is willing to attend future hearings.

“He is ready. We did not talk about the investigation, but he said he will face the Senate and answer questions,” Dela Rosa said, referring to Duterte.

Meanwhile, Pimentel said there’s no stopping the International Criminal Court (ICC) from accessing the documents to be made public at tomorrow’s hearing.

But he stressed the Blue Ribbon subcommittee would have to seek the consensus of its members first before giving ICC full access to the documents.

“I will give it to non-government organizations studying the Philippine war on drugs, unless there is an instruction from the Senate President or the majority of the subcommittee members not to release it. I will follow the majority’s will,” Pimentel said over radio dwPM.

He stressed his panel’s findings should be made accessible first to Philippine-based organizations.

“My attitude toward the documents is that these are public documents, but it should be for the Philippines’ interest first,” Pimentel said.

“I will not volunteer the papers outside the Philippines. The Filipino people should first show interest in our documents,” he added.

For his part, Senate President Francis Escudero said he sees no reason to block the release of the Senate findings even though the administration has refused to rejoin the ICC and support its drug war investigation.

“It is up to the decision of the chairperson, unless someone opposes. But for now, we see no reason not to share it,” Escudero said in a separate interview with dwIZ yesterday.

“That is a public document, how can you stop its release to the ICC through another source?” he added.

The scheduled hearing on Monday will continue whether or not Duterte shows up and faces families of victims of his brutal campaign which, according to detractors, also targetted activists and some of his political enemies.

Escudero said they would definitely allow Dela Rosa and Sen. Bong Go to respond to allegations brought up against them during the quad comm hearings.

Other officials of the previous Duterte administration invited to today’s hearings are retired police colonel Royina Garma, resigned National Police Commission commissioner Edilberto Leonardo and Lt. Col. Jovie Espenido.