De Lima on killings: Witnesses can point to ‘scalawags’

Senator Leila de Lima. INQUIRER PHOTO

Senator Leila de Lima on Monday clarified that the inquiry on the summary killings related to the anti-illegal drugs campaign of the Duterte administration aims to help find the truth.

“Itong inquiry na ito para sa katotohanan (This inquiry is for the truth),” she said during a discussion with Inquirer editors and reporters.

“I can tell you right now I don’t know the whole truth. But based on the witnesses that we have so far, a lot will be put on the table for discussion, from the accounts of the witnesses,” she said.

De Lima, who chairs the Senate committee on justice, will lead a legislative inquiry on the matter next week.

More than 600 people have been killed since President Rodrigo Duterte took his oath of office with a vow to end extrajudicial killings. Many victims are accused of being drug users or pushers but some are said to be innocent. A large number of those killed were also gunned down by unidentified vigilante groups.

The senator said that while the administration insists that the Philippine National Police can do no wrong and that she is only “indicting” law enforcers, she is only “against the scalawags of the institution.”

“I am not against the institution. I am against the bad eggs of the institution,” De Lima said.

“They should admit that, that there are scalawags. Our witnesses will be able to show that,” she said.

De Lima said many of the witnesses that she will present next Monday are under the protection of the Commission on Human Rights (CHR).

“Kasi some of them are saying tinatarget na nga sila (Because some of them are saying that they are being targeted). They don’t feel safe anymore,” she explained.

Asked why she would want to focus first on the witnesses, De Lima said, “To set the right tone. These are the victims or the families or the loved ones of the victims. They’re the ones directly affected.”

The senator also said she wanted to know why only small-time criminals are being targeted.

De Lima said her team has tried to contact witnesses from questionable cases but it is hard to get people who are willing to testify before the Senate.

“Mahirap kumuha ng maraming witnesses but we think, we feel na itong mga nakuha namin ay representative enough of what is truly happening on the ground,” she said.

(It is hard to get a lot of witnesses but we think, we feel that the witnesses we got are representative enough of what is truly happening on the ground.)

She said they will continue to invite witnesses, especially since she expects the hearings to continue for more than two days.

De Lima said that while she would talk to the Department of Justice for the witnesses’ possible inclusion in the Witness Protection Program (WPP), it will be up to the person to decide.

“Yung coverage ng WPP is first and foremost a matter of trust and is something voluntary,” she said. JE/rga

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