Former Sen. Leila de Lima answers questions from the media in an ambush interview on Monday, June 24, 2024, after the Muntinlupa Regional Trial Court acquitted her in the last drug-related case filed by the Duterte administration. — File photo by Ryan Leagogo | INQUIRER.net
MANILA, Philippines — Former Sen. Leila de Lima is hoping that Sens. Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa and Christopher “Bong” Go will be objective when the Senate conducts its separate probe on the bloody drug war of the administration of former President Rodrigo Duterte.
This was what de Lima answered when asked if she has the same expectation of what the Senate probe on the drug war will be. The former senator said that the members of the House quad committee conducting the ongoing drug war probe had been “brave.”
“Let’s see the direction of the parallel investigation of the Senate. And I hope that those who were involved, Senator Bato, and Senator Go, for example, will not use their position and status in the Senate to take advantage,” De Lima said in Filipino on the sidelines of an event led by senatorial aspirants Francis Pangilinan and Bam Aquino on Wednesday.
“They need to be open-minded and objective in handling this kind of investigation and to be brave just like the members of the quad comm have shown themselves to be,” she added.
READ: Duterte to be summoned to Senate-led drug war probe, says Bato
Dela Rosa earlier said that a drug war investigation would be conducted by the Senate committee on public order and dangerous drugs, which he chairs. He also said that he wa confident that Duterte would face the probe once they summon him.
Dela Rosa was named by the International Criminal Court (ICC) as one of the five suspects behind the bloody drug war under the Duterte administration that claimed thousands of lives.
Further, Go said on Monday that he was “very much willing” to launch a Senate parallel probe in the drug war to “know the truth.” He denied that he was involved in the drug war and the rewards system.
Meanwhile, the quad committee’s ongoing investigation of the drug war has led to many resource persons dropping bombshells.
Retired Police Colonel Royina Garma recently revealed that police officers involved in drug war killings were rewarded under the “Davao template” with money ranging from P20,000 to P1 million.
De Lima noted that these revelations were “credible” since they came from the people involved in the operations.
‘Those reward systems, that quota system have strong evidence. The people who speak up about it are credible because they are insiders. They were involved there so they know what they are saying,” she said.
She said that she was also hoping that more details would come out on how police officers were used in the anti-drug war campaign of the past administration.
“We are hoping that more revelations will come out to show what truly happened during the drug war, about how police officers were used to conduct massive summary killings,” de Lima said.
READ: Dela Rosa ordered me to implicate de Lima in drug trade – Kerwin Espinosa
“It’s so wrong. It is against the law of the people and God. They need to pay for it,” de Lima added.
Confessed drug lord Kerwin Espino made another revelation during the quad committee’ hearing — that Dela Rosa, who was the Philippine National Police chief during that time, ordered him to implicate de Lima in the illegal drug trade.
In April 2022, Espinosa retracted his allegations against de Lima where he said that he was coerced that the statements were false and were a result of coercion and pressure from the police.
De Lima had been acquitted from multiple criminal cases, including three illegal drug trade cases, filed against her by the Duterte administration.
READ: De Lima bares what’s next for her after acquittal
She is now gunning for a seat in the House of Representatives as the first nominee of the Mamamayang Liberal party-list group.