Duterte won’t be derailed by lies—Panelo

Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador Panelo. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO / NINO JESUS ORBETA

We are not threatened by lies.

Presidential chief legal counsel Salvador Panelo issued this statement after a confessed hit man accused President Rodrigo Duterte of being behind the death squad that killed criminals and opponents in Davao.

“He is a perjured witness,” he  told reporters in an ambush on Friday.

READ: SUMMARY: Allegations of ‘DDS’ member in Senate hearing

Panelo said the witness Edgar Matobato, who was presented by Senator Leila de Lima during the Senate investigation on Thursday, only surfaced to discredit the President.

“Obviously, whoever is behind dito sa sa testigong ito, e ang layunin lang nito ay ang sirain ang pangalan ng Presidente at ang kanyang pamilya (Whoever is behind this witness only wants to smear the name of the President and his family),” he said.

“But no amount of black propaganda, no amount of sinister ploy or plan will stop the President from his relentless campaign against the drug menace and terrorism,” he added.

Panelo questioned why Matobato did not reveal his allegations when Duterte was still a city mayor.

READ: Aguirre on De Lima witness: Why only now?

“There is no sane reason bakit ‘di mo sinabi noon ‘yan, mayor pa si Presidente Duterte noon. Wala kang reason para hindi mu ibulgar ‘yun. Nasa witness protection program (WPP) ka, protektado ka,” he said.

(There is no reason why you did not reveal those things when President Duterte was still mayor. There is no reason for you not to expose those things. You were protected under the witness protection program then.)

De Lima was  the justice secretary when Matobato was under the WPP.

The chief legal counsel said the testimonies of Matobato were obviously lies, citing the witness could not even remember the names of the victims they had killed.

“Kwentong kutsero talaga ‘to (These are nothing but hearsay),” Panelo said.

Panelo said the testimonies were all based on “lies, falsities, fabrications” as he affirmed that Duterte was a “man of integrity.”

“The truth confronts us in the eyes na talagang ito si President is (that the President is really) beyond corruption, is a man of integrity, is a man of his words, a man of action, lahat ng magandang quality nasa kanya (he has all the good qualities),” he said.

Asked if he would advise Duterte to respond to the issue against him, he said, “You know, you don’t even have to advise this President. He’s such a smart, intelligent thinking lawyer, President.”

He said critics of the President will not succeed.

“Naa-amuse lang ako sa nangyayari, naawa naman ako doon sa mga gumagawa ng mga kasinungaling kay Presidente Duterte (I am amused by what’s happening and I pity those who concoct lies against President Duterte). They will never succeed,” he said.

Asked if Malacañang was threatened by the accusations against Duterte, he said “Definitely not. How can you be threatened by lies?”

The allegations against Duterte, Panelo said, could be mere tactics of critics, including De Lima, since the House of Representatives is set to investigate her alleged involvement in the illegal drugs trade.

“Sa tingin ko distraction ‘yan. There will be a House investigation, the subject of which is the chairman of this committee investigating. E these are tactics para yung attensyon dito sa kabila kaysa dun sa gaganaping (so that the attention will be focused on the Senate and not the) House probe involving Senator De Lima,” he said. IDL/rga