Villanueva: Drug war probe aims for impartiality, not finger-pointing

MANILA, Philippines — Senator Joel Villanueva on Friday emphasized that the upcoming Senate probe on the government’s drug war is not about “pointing fingers” or “glorifying the trigger-happy.”

Speaking to reporters in a virtual conference, Villanueva said Senate President Chiz Escudero ordered a thorough, impartial, and well-rounded investigation into the drug war.

“Ayaw namin maging parang intramurals or pagalingan ng imbestigasyon ang House at Senate. Nanggaling tayo sa House and we love the House of Representatives,” said Villanueva.

(We don’t want it to be like an intramural where we compete with the investigation of the House of Representatives. We came from the House, and we love the House of Representatives.)

The lower chamber, through its quad committee, is also investigating former President Rodrigo Duterte’s brutal drug campaign dubbed as Oplan Tokhang.

The parallel investigation in the Senate, meanwhile, was triggered by a resolution filed by Duterte ally Sen. Bong Go, whose name is also being tagged in the drug war mess.

READ: Bong Go wants Senate to probe Duterte admin’s drug war 

But what would be the difference in the Senate’s investigation? Villanueva said senators only want to hear all sides of the story.

“Ayaw namin ng turuan-turuan, ayaw naming i-glorify ‘yong mga trigger-happy diyan, and when I say trigger-happy, hindi ‘yong ibig sabihin trigger-happy per se, but ‘yong trigger-happy na kailangan mayroong madiin, mayroong kailangan i-contempt, etc.,” said Villanueva.

(We don’t want to point fingers, we don’t want to glorify those who are trigger-happy, and when I say trigger-happy, I don’t mean it literally, but rather the kind of trigger-happy where there’s a need to accuse someone or even hold them in contempt.)

He said senators want to find out what really transpired, prove that violations were made, and correct them so that they can be prevented in the future.

Senate Minority Leader Koko Pimentel is set to preside over the hearing on Monday. He had chosen Villanueva to be his counterpart and to preside over the probe.

“Siguro siya [ang] makakapagsabi no, kung bakit gusto niya tayo [but] he made mention about my stand and the track record I had during those times na may mga reports on extrajudicial killings,” said Villanueva.

(Maybe he’s the one who can explain why he wants me involved, but he mentioned my stance and track record from the time there were reports of extrajudicial killings.)