Sen. Panfilo Lacson (Photo from his Facebook account)
Let the Department of Justice (DOJ) conduct its own investigation into the killing of Kian delos Santos, Senator Panfilo Lacson said this on Saturday amid calls of his fellow lawmakers for Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II to inhibit from the case.
Opposition Senators Franklin Drilon and Risa Hontiveros earlier called on Aguirre to keep his hands off the case of Delos Santos following a “one-sided” remark he made during the hearing of the Senate committee on public order and dangerous drugs on Thursday.
READ: Aguirre should keep hands off the Kian case—Hontiveros
Lacson said he understood the points of his fellow senators but it would be more reasonable to let the DOJ proceed with its own investigation.
“’Pag pinag-inhibit si Secretary Aguirre, baka sa kanyang tanggapan din umabot ‘yung kaso pagka mayroong nag-file ng petition for review (When Secretary Aguirre inhibits himself, the case might end up on his office when someone files a petition for review),” Lacson said in an interview over DWIZ.
Lacson, however, hoped that Delos Santos’ case will not end up like that of Albuera, Leyte Mayor Rolando Espinosa, in which the cases filed against policemen involved were watered down or downgraded from murder to homicide.
READ: Case vs cops in Espinosa slay downgraded to homicide
“’Yung kay Kian Loyd, wag naman sanang maulit yung experience ni (Supt. Marvin) Marcos dahil talagang ito, kitang kita. May CCTV, may mga testimonies, lahat (In the case of Kian Loyd, I hope it will not be repeated, our experience with Supt. Marvin Marcos, because it was clear—there were CCTV footage, testimonies, everything),” he explained.
In a joint committee report issued on March 12, the Senate committees on justice and human rights and public order and dangerous drugs recommended the filing of murder charges against Marcos, former police Criminal Investigation and Detection Group Region 8 chief, and 18 others.
However, the DOJ downgraded this to a lesser and bailable offense of homicide, due to the “absence of evident premeditation.”
Lacson said Delos Santos was apparently murdered, based on the autopsy reports and findings of forensic experts presented during the Senate hearing on the boy’s death.
However, he said it was not for the committee to conclude on such result because the prosecutors have yet to establish probable cause for the case to prosper.
“All indications point to that pero hindi naman para sa atin, para bigyan ng conclusion yon kasi nasa DOJ na ngayon (but it is not for us to conclude such because the case is now with the DOJ),” he said.
The Senate committee on public order and dangerous drugs led by Lacson launched on Thursday its probe on the death of Delos Santos, whose controversial death in the hands of Caloocan City police sparked public outrage against the government’s violent crackdown against illegal drugs. JPV