MANILA, Philippines – Retired police colonel Royina Garma, the House quad committee’s whistleblower who said there were rewards for drug war killings, did not attend the hearing at the Senate on Monday, October 28, avoiding a face-off with the man of the hour, former president Rodrigo Duterte himself.
Garma requested the Senate blue ribbon sub-committee to avail of the medical furlough that was already granted to her by the quad committee, which currently has custody of her. Even retired police colonel Edilberto Leonardo — a quad committee witness who said “yes” when asked if he believes Garma’s testimony is correct — was not present on Monday due to him contracting COVID-19, according to the Senate’s committee secretariat.
The blue ribbon sub-committee began its first hearing on the abuses of war on drugs on Monday, parallel to its counterparts in the lower house which has made headway through multiple sensational testimonies against the Duterte administration, the biggest of which, so far, is Garma’s.
Duterte did not attend the quad committee last week, but was present at the Senate on Monday, flanked by his former Palace executives Salvador Medialdea and Salvador Panelo.
Senators Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa, Bong Go, and Robin Padilla, all Duterte allies, delivered opening statements in defense of the administration, repeating the State line that the war on drugs made Philippine streets safe. Opposition Senator Risa Hontiveros, in her opening statement, condemned the war on drugs.
Senator Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel, the chair of the sub-committee who was once Duterte’s ally, said: “Our assignment will not be an easy task, I shall conduct this investigation without fear or favor, and I will simply follow the evidence.”
Pimentel reiterated that the blue ribbon’s jurisdiction is about government malfeasance, saying that the investigation will begin “by examining first the Duterte administration’s enforcement of our anti-illegal drugs laws.”
“How effective was the Duterte administration’s war on drugs? Did it follow the law, and rules? Was it compliant with the letter of the Constitution?” said Pimentel.
Former senator Leila De Lima, who once upon a time led this same exact investigation, was present on Monday to face her ex-colleagues.
De Lima’s extrajudicial killings investigation in 2016 was cut short after she was ousted from her committee, and the Richard Gordon-led panel eventually cleared the Duterte administration of any wrongdoing. De Lima also was eventually sent to jail, where she spent the next seven years until her bail in November 2023. She is now completely acquitted of the charges of conspiracy to commit drug trading.
“Mixed feelings, sana noon pa (I hope they did way before) when I also tried to do that, but now it seems nandiyan na (the moment is here). We can hope for the truth to come out,” said De Lima.
Duterte’s war on drugs killed an estimated 30,000 drug suspects — if human rights groups’ numbers are considered, and is being investigated by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for alleged crimes against humanity.
Duterte, in his opening statement, said: “Thank you for inviting me so once and for all malaman natin (we will know). I will request sa inyo huwag ‘nyo akong ituring na presidente o kaibigan. Treat me as your witness at tingnan natin kung lalabas ang totoo.”
(Don’t treat me as a president or friend. Treat me as your witness and let’s see if the truth will come out.)
“I offer no apologies, no excuses, I did what I had to do. Whether you believe it or not, I did it for my country,” said Duterte. – Rappler.com