Duterte-De Lima face-off sought in House inquiry

Duterte-De Lima face-off sought in House inquiry

MANILA, Philippines — The House committee on human rights has invited former President Rodrigo Duterte and his former police chief and now Sen. Ronald dela Rosa for them to answer questions about their six-year drug war that had left thousands dead.

Also invited as a resource person was former Sen. Leila de Lima, a staunch critic of Duterte’s bloody antinarcotics campaign, who on Monday was cleared of the last of three illegal drug trading charges filed against her during the previous administration.

By having Duterte and De Lima on its list, the panel is setting the stage for a possible showdown between the political nemeses.

READ: De Lima acquitted in last drug case

The camp of the former justice secretary believes the drug charges against her were filed in retaliation for her criticism of the drug war and her prior investigation of vigilante-style killings by the so-called Davao Death Squad in the former president’s hometown.

“As much as I would want to give courtesy to the former president and the senator, because of the gravity of the testimonies of [the families of the victims, Duterte and Dela Rosa] should face these people,” said Manila Rep. Bienvenido Abante Jr., chair of the House committee.

“Maybe the former president can look into his heart and realize what he has done in his six years,” he added.

Widows, mothers

Gabriela Rep. Arlene Brosas made the motion to invite Duterte and Dela Rosa to the next hearing after several widows and mothers of drug war victims testified before the panel to recall how the police killed their husbands or sons—some of them minors—in cold blood and claimed self-defense later.

After the motion was carried, Brosas broached the idea of inviting De Lima as well, a proposal also approved by the body.

The next hearing is on Wednesday, but Duterte, Dela Rosa and De Lima are to be invited to the hearing after that, according to Abante.

One of the mothers, Raquel Lopez, turned emotional as she recounted how her son Rabby was killed by the Cebu police during a “one-time, big-time drug operation” in October 2018.

The younger Lopez was shot in his room as he slept, then wrapped in his own bedsheet and thrown out of the house “like a slaughtered pig,” his mother said.

“He had no known (criminal) record whatsoever,” she said in Cebuano. “I was so surprised that this happened to him… He was kind.”

The House committee did not state any plans of inviting Duterte and Dela Rosa when it opened the inquiry on May 22.

Abante then said the committee’s goal was merely to “seek the truth” and gather “comprehensive information” on alleged human rights violations linked to the drug war.

The crackdown left at least 6,000 people dead, based on official government data, but human rights watchdogs said the actual figure could be as high as 20,000 due to underreporting and incomplete or falsified records.

Abante, a pastor-turned-lawmaker, had been noncommittal about inviting Duterte, whose drug war is also under investigation before the International Criminal Court for alleged crimes against humanity.

‘Moral failings’

But over the past two hearings, many of the lawmakers on the panel—including Abante himself—admitted to having a change of heart as they personally listened to accounts from the families of drug war victims.

Eleanor Llanes, a missionary sister from the Immaculate Heart of Mary, reproached the House panel for launching an inquiry only now, two years after Duterte left office.

“I am not blaming you, but I think all of us have moral failings by being silent,” she said.

Abante acknowledged her point, saying: “We all count this as a rebuke [against us].. .I admit this is also a lapse on my part as a lawmaker. But here we are now and I promise you we will pursue this to the end.”

During Tuesday’s hearing, Lanao del Sur Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong asked human rights lawyers to define “extrajudicial killings” in the context of the drug war.

Kristina Conti, legal counsel for some of the families of drug war victims, said: “We would rather look at the victim rather than the intention. There is a commonality among the victims that could point to a system—the targets of the killings are the same, whether they are police operations or vigilante killings, they were either on the drug lists or perceived drug addicts.”

In a message to the Inquirer, ACT Teachers Rep. France Castro, who attended the hearing, said Abante might have changed his mind “because the committee was able to see the extent of the suffering and trauma that the families of the victims of Duterte’s fake drug war are still enduring.”

“It is only the policymaker (Duterte) and its chief implementer (Dela Rosa) who can answer the multitude of queries not just of the committee members but the families of victims as well,” she added.

At the close of the hearing, Adiong tried to comfort the grieving mothers and widows, saying: “The truth will remain the truth, whether it is accepted now or in a million years.”

P-Noy, Erap, FVR

Should Duterte attend the House hearing, he would not be the first former president to face a congressional inquiry.

In December 2017, former President Benigno Aquino III appeared before the Senate blue ribbon committee as a resource person to explain the government’s purchase of P3.5 billion worth of the controversial dengue vaccine Dengvaxia, which was administered by the Department of Health to 280,000 students nationwide.

In January 2003, former President Joseph Estrada appeared in the Senate to defend the controversial $450 million Impsa power contract that sought to develop the Caliraya-Botocan-Kalayaan hydroelectric power plant.

Former President Fidel Ramos also appeared at a congressional hearing in 2006 over his role in the anomalous $561.7-million deal won by a Malaysian firm over the sale of the 600-megawatt Masinloc coal-fired power plant in Zambales province to YNN Pacific Consortium Inc.

In September 2004, Ramos clashed with late Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago, who walked out in anger over the former president’s “arrogant” way of answering questions. —with a report from Inquirer Research