📷Senator Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa
Abang Lingkod Party-list Rep. Stephen Paduano told Senator Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa to show professionalism in fulfilling his duties as a senator during the Senate Blue Ribbon committee probe into the Duterte administration’s “drug war.”
Paduano slammed Dela Rosa in a House hearing on Thursday, November 7, as his behavior during the hearing on illegal drug war campaign was “disappointing” and “disrespects the institution.”
He noted how dela Rosa “defended and explained” a straightforward statement from former President Rodrigo Duterte indicating that the senator was involved with the “Davao Death Squad.”
“Senator De La Rosa complained saying, claiming that the former president was just joking and there was no death squad to speak of. Clearly, the confirmation by the former president needed no interpretation much less from a member of the parliament who investigated the case,” the House lawmaker noted.
“If you would ask me, it is as if the honorable senator came to the defense of the former president while seeking to exonerate himself from any liability,” Paduano added.
According to Paduano, Dela Rosa’s actions further highlighted his present statement that he will be objective in the action of the Senate regarding the submission of records to the ICC (International Criminal Court).
“The Honorable Senator’s recent actions are truly disappointing,” Paduano said.
On October 28, former President Duterte stated that the term “death squad” was used loosely, noting that all former PNP chiefs, including Dela Rosa, retired Lt. Gen. Vicente Danao, retired Gen. Archie Gamboa, and retired Gen. Debold Sinas, had led death squads. Dela Rosa, however, dismissed Duterte’s comments as jokes.
The lawmaker also highlighted the irony of him leading the probe into the anti-drug campaign he once enforced as Philippine National Police chief during the term of former President Rodrigo Duterte.
“He also admitted that there were killings attributed to the war because of alleged cases of gun violence. In short, he was not only involved but was in fact one of the figureheads of the campaign during its inception,” Paduano said.
“Clearly, this is a conflict of interest on his part. At the very least, he should have inhibited from the proceedings and instead offered himself as a resource person so as not to influence and intimidate the other guests,” he added.
Meanwhile, House Quad Comm overall chair Robert Ace Barbers also slammed Dela Rosa’s comments that the House of Representatives’ hearing on extrajudicial killings (EJKs) linked to the previous administration’s war on drugs was a “gag show.”
According to Barbers, Dela Rosa may have been referring to the Senate Blue Ribbon subcommittee hearing on Duterte’s drug war as the actual “gag show.”
“We may be accused of providing entertainment and likened to a gag show, but who is laughing?” Barbers asked during the continuation of the hearing of the Quad Comm regarding the over 20,000 deaths linked to former President Rodrigo Roa Duterte’s anti-drug war.
“On the contrary, the one who said that must be so full of himself that he didn’t notice that the joke was on him,” Barbers added.
Dela Rosa has repeatedly declined invitations to attend the Quad Comm investigation, even dismissing it as a “gag show.”
In his opening statement at the 10th Quad Comm hearing, Barbers emphasized that the purpose of the investigation is to uncover the truth behind the thousands of deaths, not to entertain anyone.
The lawmaker from Surigao del Norte also denied allegations that witnesses were forced to testify, including new claims from Police Colonel Hector Grijaldo, who stated that he was pressured by committee leaders to confirm the existence of a reward system in the anti-drug campaign. (TCSP)
