Duterte tells Rosales: I know my law
DAVAO CITY, Philippines – Mayor Rodrigo Duterte yesterday virtually brushed aside an order from Commission on Human Rights (CHR) chairperson Loreta Rosales for him to explain his role in last week’s shootout between local police and the suspected kidnappers of a Filipino-Chinese businesswoman from Quezon City.
“I know my law. The whole thing was legal, moral and proper given the circumstances,†said Duterte, adding that he would do everything to protect the police, especially those who risked their lives for the sake of the citizenry.
He said it would be best if those who criticized the way the police successfully rescued the kidnap victim would do it in a legal procedure.
He said it was a legitimate encounter between the police led by Senior Superintendent Ronald de la Rosa, city police chief, and the suspected kidnappers.
At least three of the suspects were killed while another one was arrested during the rescue operation while the victim, Sally Chua, 52, was about to withdraw the P15-million ransom from a bank along C. M. Recto Avenue here last week.
Rosales ordered Duterte to explain his role after she viewed a grainy video that allegedly showed how members of the local SWAT (Special Weapons and Tactics) team killed one of the three suspects.
While Rosales described what she saw on the video as “murder,†presidential deputy spokesperson Abigail Valte was also quoted as saying that Duterte’s “shoot-to-kill†order was illegal.
But Duterte said he does not want to go on a debate with Rosales and Valte and that all he wants is to put things in a proper legal perspective.
“It’s not good for me to argue and debate with the two ladies but I’m addressing this explanation to the public, to whom this explanation belonged: The shoot-to-kill order is a legitimate tool of government to combat lawlessness. It was moral and certainly within the bounds of the law,†he said.
Duterte instead challenged Rosales to go legal over the whole issue and not delve on theatrics.
“The CHR raising the issue over that video and saying it was murder is more of entertainment. Let us go legal,†he said.
Duterte has hired the services of lawyer Salvador Panelo should a case be filed against him and the policemen involved in Chua’s rescue.
“If they have any question, they can always ask Atty. Panelo with regard to the matter,†he said.
Panelo yesterday advised police officers involved in the rescue to refrain from talking about the incident.
“If they are investigating the incident preparatory to the filing of an administrative and criminal complaint, then I advise my clients to invoke their right to remain silent and their right to counsel,†Panelo told reporters before leaving the city yesterday.
In a two-page letter sent to Duterte’s office yesterday, Rosales reminded him to follow the rules of engagement specified in the Philippine National Police Human Rights-Based Policing Guidelines.
Rosales cited the case of Randy Quirante, a Sangguniang Kabataan councilman and a third-year criminology student who was shot dead on mere suspicion that he was a car thief.
Four policemen who chased Quirante and his classmate John Rey Lapuz were found positive for gunpowder burns and one of them turned out positive for drug use. – With Rhodina Villanueva, Joseph Lawrence Garcia
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