Ex-president Duterte skipping House probe into drug war – Panelo

Salvador Panelo. Photo from Faith Argosino/INQUIRER.net

MANILA, Philippines — Former President Rodrigo Duterte maintained that he would not attend the lower chamber’s probe into human rights violations during his administration’s drug war, saying that it would only “violate” his rights,  his former spokesperson Salvador Panelo said on Saturday.  

Panelo revealed Duterte’s stand when asked if he would show up at the House of Representatives quad committee’s joint investigation of illegal activities in Philippine offshore gaming operators (Pogo), the illegal drug trade, and the war on drugs during the previous administration. 

“Sabi niya (Duterte) paano naman ako pupunta doon? Eh yung Congressional meeting di naman tunay na hearing ,they violate your rights,” Panelo said in a news forum on Saturday. 

(Why will I attend that? The congressional meeting is not a real hearing. They violate your rights.)

“You cannot even speak. And if you speak, they will stop you from speaking. That’s useless, di ako attend dyan,” he added, quoting the former chief executive.  

In June this year, Duterte said he would only show up in a court hearing and not during the lower chamber’s probe into his drug war, as revealed by lawyer Harry Roque. 

Roque said Duterte will invoke his right against self-incrimination, noting that under the 1987 Constitution, Congress cannot compel the former president to attend hearings.

On May 22, the House’s committee on human rights began its probe into the alleged extrajudicial killings committed during Duterte’s presidency.

During the August 28 hearing of the quad committee, a central figure in the Duterte administration’s drug war,  Police Col. Jovie Espenido revealed  then-Philippine National Police (PNP) chief and now Senator Ronald Dela Rosa’s order to clear Albuera, Leyte of illegal drugs meant “killing” people linked to the trade.

He added that Dela Rosa called him up at the start of Duterte’s term in 2016 to ask for his help in the drug war.

The House’s quad committee consists of the committee on dangerous drugs; the committee on public order and safety; the committee on public accounts; and the committee on human rights 

Based on reports, the Duterte administration’s drug war reportedly led to over 6,250 deaths in police operations from June 2016 to May 2022.

But activist groups claim that the deaths may have reached somewhere between 12,000 to 30,000.