MANILA, Philippines — Profanities notwithstanding, former president Rodrigo Duterte should show that he can be a statesman by attending this week’s hearing of the House of Representatives quad committee investigating purported state-sanctioned summary executions during his term, according to lawmakers.
“Please be reminded that while you still enjoy having Presidential Security Group personnel, you are now – for all intents and purposes – a civilian who no longer carries that mandate, so please, act like a statesman if you want to be respected,” House Assistant Majority Leader and Zambales 1st District Rep. Jefferson Khonghun said.
“With all due respect Mr. fPRRD, don’t make any more excuses in not attending our hearings. Please make sure to be around on Wednesday, so that you can make true your threat to kick congressmen, as you have repeatedly warned. Be here at the quad comm hearing, and go ahead, kick us if that will make you happy. I’m very sure your supporters nationwide will also be watching on national TV or YouTube, ready to give you the loudest applause you want to hear,” Khonghun said.
His colleague in the “Young Guns” clique among administration lawmakers, House Assistant Majority Leader and La Union 1st District Rep. Paolo Ortega V, also advised the former president to personally attend the hearings, just as he promised to do so after the Nov. 1 holiday, so he could indeed physically kick congressmen at his will.
“How can you kick us if you don’t physically attend the hearings? Be man enough to do it. I suppose you’re a man of your word. Don’t make empty threats. Please make no mistake: while we respect you, by no stretch of the imagination does this mean we’re afraid of you. Give us respect, too,” Ortega said.
“Don’t be afraid to face us in the quad comm. You don’t have to worry, we will give you all the reasonable amount of respect you deserve being the former president. I, for one, will make that pledge in front of you and the nation if I have to. But this respect should be reciprocal: we will not and we will never allow you to bully us in our own House – the House of the People, whom we are all representing, from the northernmost tip district to the southernmost end district across the country. You are our guest so please act like one,” he added.
Ortega also reminded Duterte that while more than 16 million Filipino voters installed him at Malacañang in 2016, this one-time mandate has expired2.
Quad to pay for airfare
Leaders of the quad comm investigating alleged extrajudicial killings (EJKs) in Duterte’s brutal war on drugs have also offered to personally pay for his airfare and accommodations, including those of his entourage, to ensure his attendance at the hearings.
Lead chairman and Surigao del Norte 2nd District Rep. Robert Ace Barbers, along with Representatives Dan Fernandez of Laguna, Bienvenido Abante Jr. (Manila’s sixth district) and Joseph Stephen Paduano (Abang Lingkod party-list), vice chairman Romeo Acop (Antipolo’s second district), Senior Deputy Speaker and Pampanga 3rd District Rep. Aurelio Gonzales Jr. and Deputy Speaker and Quezon 2nd District Rep. David Suarez, vowed to chip in to remove any financial problem that Duterte may be in.
“If finances are truly an issue, we’re ready to cover his travel and accommodations ourselves. This is about the people’s right to know the truth about alleged abuses in his administration’s anti-drug operations,” Barbers, who also chairs the House committee on dangerous drugs, said.
Duterte, who led a bloody anti-drug campaign during his presidency, faces scrutiny for reported human rights abuses, including the deaths of thousands of people, many of them coming from the urban poor.
In a recent interview, the former chief executive had claimed that financial limitations prevented his attendance to the hearings.
His lawyer also said Duterte may have already said his piece at a parallel hearing conducted by the Senate Blue Ribbon subcommittee, which Durterte attended for about nine hours.
‘All EJKs covered’
The government’s investigation of EJKs during anti-illegal drugs operations that will be conducted by the Department of Justice’s task force is not limited to those that occurred during the Duterte administration, according to DOJ Undersecretary Raul Vasquez.
Vasquez said the investigation would cover all cases of EJKs classified as murder or homicide.
“All extrajudicial killings are covered. It’s not specifically focused on the Duterte administration, but the war on drugs in general,” he clarified in an interview over Teleradyo Serbisyo.
The DOJ official explained that murder and homicide cases have a prescriptive period of 20 years under Philippine law, which means that complaints must be filed within that period.
The investigation will also include cold cases, according to Vasquez.
Given this, he said there is a need for cooperation among law enforcement agencies to “harmonize” their records and establish a clear count of EJKs.
The investigation into EJKs during the drug war was pursuant to Department Order (DO) 778 issued by Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla, who ordered the creation of the task force.
Remulla issued the order in response to revelations during the hearings conducted by the House quad comm, which has been looking into the EJKs committed during the Duterte administration’s drug war.
Chaired by a senior assistant state prosecutor and co-chaired by a regional prosecutor, the task force includes nine members from the National Prosecution Service, with support from the National Bureau of Investigation.
The task force is ordered to conduct investigations, build cases and, if warranted, file charges against perpetrators involved in the killings.
It is also instructed to coordinate with the House quad comm and the Senate Blue Ribbon committee in their respective inquiries into the drug war.
The task force has been directed to submit a report to Remulla not later than 60 days from the issuance of DO 778.
Be the first to comment