Pimentel: Senate to start with ‘blank slate’ in EJK probe

CRIMES LINKED TO DRUG WAR In this Sept. 13 photo, the quad committee of the House of Representatives resumes its investigation of cases of extrajudicial killings under the administration of former President Rodrigo Duterte. —House of Representatives photo

MANILA, Philippines — The Senate will investigate the alleged crimes committed during former President Rodrigo Duterte’s bloody war on drugs, independent of a similar probe ongoing at the House of Representatives since August.

Surigao del Norte Rep. Robert Ace Barbers, the overall chair of the House quad committee conducting hearings on the Duterte drug war and the extrajudicial killings (EJKs) linked to it, on Monday proposed a bicameral investigation.

READ: Pimentel tapped to lead Senate drug war probe

“If the Senate has an inquiry and so does the House, then why don’t we just combine them like a bicam? A joint committee hearing,” Barbers said, comparing the setup with the President’s State of the Nation Address before a joint session of Congress.

“It would be better if we would have another parallel investigation because there is no prohibition about this, according to our rules,” he added.

Lack of provision in rules

However, Senate Minority Leader Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III, who was tapped to head the inquiry in the upper chamber, said their investigation would be independent of the House’s and start with a “blank slate.”

“I don’t want to take ‘judicial notice’ (of the House quad panel’s inquiry) in the sense that its records will be automatically reproduced in the Senate. It’s not like that,” Pimentel said in a press briefing.

Senate President Francis Escudero, in a Viber message, also noted that while the possibility of both houses of Congress conducting a joint investigation was tempting, “unfortunately, we have no provision in our rules providing for such.”

Pimentel agreed that having a Senate-House probe was a “good idea, but it’s difficult to implement.”

“Also, the stage of their investigation is different. They are already advanced,” he added.

List of resource persons

Pimentel assured the public that the impending Senate inquiry would be “practical” since Congress would be busy discussing the proposed P6.352-trillion national budget for 2025.

The chair of the Senate justice and human rights committee met with members of his staff on Monday as they started preparing the list of the possible resource persons to be invited to the hearing, which Sen. Christopher “Bong” Go had initiated after he and Sen. Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa, both among Duterte’s most trusted lieutenants, were named by witnesses as primary figures in Duterte’s war on drugs during the House hearings.

Go had served as special assistant to the president before winning a Senate seat in 2019, while Dela Rosa was the first enforcer of the drug war when he was named chief of the Philippine National Police in 2016.

As disclosed by Escudero on Sunday, Pimentel is expected to chair the subcommittee of the Senate blue ribbon panel headed by Sen. Pia Cayetano.

Timeline

The Senate leader had argued that only Cayetano’s panel was authorized to conduct a motu proprio investigation, or without a referral from the plenary, during the legislative break.

Escudero said Cayetano, one of Duterte’s remaining allies in the Senate, could not lead the probe since she would be busy in her reelection bid for the May 2025 midterm polls.

According to Pimentel, he might be able to start the investigation before the resumption of their regular session on Nov. 4.

“We have to fast-track everything. We will make (the roster of resource persons) a realistic list. We don’t have to invite so many people because it’s impossible to ask all of them,” he noted.

“We will be practical. For the investigation to be orderly, the narration should also be orderly. So we will begin (tracking the events) at the start of the Duterte administration on June 30, 2016, or even days earlier,” he added.

As to whether Duterte would be summoned to appear before the Senate panel, Pimentel said it would be done “at the proper time.”

“Of course, we can’t do that at the start because the whole story may be muddled,” he said.

Pimentel was the Senate president when Duterte launched his bloody antidrug campaign, which led to police abuses and the deaths of thousands of mostly poor drug suspects.

Duterte skips hearing

Meanwhile, Duterte is not attending the House quad committee hearing today because he is not feeling well, according to his lawyer.

In a letter addressed to Barbers, lawyer Martin Delgra said that despite his client’s “keen intention to attend” the inquiry, Duterte would not be able to make it.

“Aside from the short notice given him, my client just arrived in Davao from Metro Manila last [Oct. 17]. Considering his advance age and the several engagements he had to attend, he is currently not feeling well and is in need of much rest. Hence, my client respectfully request to defer his appearance before the Honorable Committee scheduled tomorrow,” the lawyer said in a two-page letter, a copy of which was released by the House secretary general to reporters.

“Rest assured of my client’s willingness to appear before the House of Representatives on some other available date, preferably after [Nov. 1],” the lawyer added.

Delgra noted that Duterte received on Oct. 20 the letter of invitation for him to attend the Oct. 22 public hearing.