MANILA, Philippines — House lawmakers expressed their frustration at former President Rodrigo Duterte’s absence again on Thursday, November 7, at the House investigation into his war on drugs campaign.
Recounting Duterte’s initial willingness to attend the lower chamber’s probe, members of the House Quad Committee find his change of heart disappointing.
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The former president, through his legal counsel, gave three reasons why he refuses to attend.
First, he believes the committee is intent on indicting him; second, he thinks lawmakers pressure resource persons to conform to a specific narrative; and third, he feels that his statements during the Senate hearing are sufficient.
RELATED: Ex-president Duterte to skip House drug war probe again, doubts integrity
Rep. Joseph Stephen Paduano (Abang Lingkod Partylist), co-chairperson of the mega panel, questioned whether Duterte is now afraid of being interrogated at the House probe.
“Kung hindi tayo naglolokohan dito, ano natatakot siya na pumunta dito?” Paduano asked.
(If we're not fooling around here, why is he afraid to come here?)
He referred to Duterte’s initial excuse letter, where the legal counsel assured the committee that, despite the former president’s inability to attend the October 22 hearing for feeling unwell, Duterte was “keen” on appearing at a future session.
The letter further stated, “rest assured of my client’s willingness to appear,” specifying a preferred date after November 1.
However, Duterte attended the Senate’s first hearing on the war on drugs on October 28. There he claimed responsibility for the “shortcomings” of his war on drugs and confessed to giving out kill orders.
RELATED: Duterte claims responsibility for drug war but offers no apologies
House lawmakers were quick to respond, explicitly saying that the former president should be imprisoned and urging the Department of Justice to file charges for his admission.
Leaders of the Quad Comm itself also said that Duterte is liable for crimes against humanity under Republic Act 9851 over the extrajudicial killings committed under his watch.
RELATED: Rodrigo Duterte is liable for crimes against humanity over drug war killings — House leaders
Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong (Lanao del Sur, 1st District) also said on Thursday that he honestly believes Duterte will not make an appearance at the House probe.
Meanwhile, Rep. David “Jay-Jay” Suarez (Quezon, 2nd District) said he is “disappointed” at the former president as it could have been his chance to explain and address the allegations made against him.
The mega panel has issued a show cause order to compel Duterte’s legal counsel, Martin Delgra III, to attend the next public hearing and clarify the reasons and allegations made in both excuse letters.
High-ranking officials during his administration, along with other resource persons, have accused Duterte of implementing the drug war reward system and ordering the killing of drug suspects.
Extrajudicial killings based on official data reached 6,000. However, human rights groups said it is likely that unreported EJK cases could bring the figure to as high as 30,000.