MANILA – Former president Rodrigo Duterte is attending the Senate blue ribbon committee hearing on his administration’s bloody war on drugs on Monday, Sen. Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa said.
Dela Rosa, who was the Philippine National Police chief during the Duterte administration, said the former president confirmed to him his attendance regardless of who will handle the inquiry.
“Yes confirmed,” Dela Rosa said in a statement over the weekend.
Duterte was also invited in House of Representatives’ Quad Committee (QuadComm) inquiry on the his administrations’ “war on drugs” but the former Chief Executive opted not to attend
Meanwhile, Senate Minority Leader Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III said his committee’s inquiry will push through regardless if former President Duterte will show up or not.
“Sa dami naman ng aming imbitadong resource person at witnesses pumunta man si former president Duterte o hindi, tuloy ang hearing,” Pimentel said in a radio interview.
Dela Rosa and Sen. Christopher “Bong” Go had previously asked the Senate to conduct the investigation, which will be done parallel to the House QuadComm investigation.
Aside from Duterte, also invited to the Senate investigation are retired Police Colonel Royina Garma, former National Police Commission commissioner Edilberto Leonardo, former senator Leila de Lima, Kerwin Espinosa, and the families of drug war victims.
The Senate blue ribbon committee’s hearing will be fast-tracked since plenary debates on the proposed 2025 national budget will be held starting November 4 during the body’s session.
Government records show that there were at least 6,200 drug suspects killed in police operations from June 2016 to November 2021, but several human rights stated that the number may have reached as much as 30,000 due to unreported related killings./PN
