‘Explosive’ witness on killings to appear in Senate today

INQUIRER FILE / RAFFY LERMA

A big, ‘explosive’ witness is expected to appear at the resumption of the Senate probe into the rise of alleged extrajudicial killings and summary executions in the country, sources said on Thursday.

“Mabigat na testigo,” Senator Antonio Trillanes IV said in a text message ahead of the 9 a.m joint hearing by the Senate committees on justice and human rights, public order and dangerous drugs.

“So explosive, it can reach the Palace,” a source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said in a separate text message.

Senator Leila De Lima, the lead investigator as chair of the justice committee, earlier said she would present more witnesses to testify on cases of alleged drug-related killings since the Duterte administration launched its intensified campaign against illegal drugs.

“After three weeks since the committee started its inquiry, we have yet to hear the testimonies of other witnesses who can provide not only the clearer and broader picture behind these killings but also any loopholes in enforcing our laws,” she said in a statement on Wednesday.

De Lima so far presented two witnesses — Harra Kazuo and Mary Rose Aquino — when the Senate opened the probe last August 22.

Except for a “litany” of testimonies from witnesses, Senator Panfilo Lacson, chair of the public order committee, said they were not notified about any specific agenda of the hearing this Thursday.

“Based on news reports quoting Senator de Lima, we expect to hear a litany of testimonies from kins / witnesses of drug-related killings,” Lacson said in a text message.

Aside from the witnesses, De Lima said her committee also invited other resource persons from the government sector, civil society groups and human rights advocates, as well as from the media “to get their views and insights on this issue.”

She said the heads of the Philippine National Police, the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency, the Department of the Interior and Local Government, and the National Bureau of Investigation were also called to shed light on the spate of alleged extrajudicial killings.