Matobato claims require careful scrutiny—Drilon

Witness Edgar Matobato during the Senate probe on the alleged extrajudicial killings at the Senate in Pasay City.
INQUIRER PHOTO / RICHARD A. REYES

The testimony of Edgar Matobato, a confessed hitman who claimed he had killed people on the orders of President Duterte, could not be accepted as indisputable truth, Senate President Pro-Tempore Franklin Drilon on Saturday said.

Thus, the public should be careful in passing judgment on the President and his family, Drilon added.

“Ang binitiwan po ni Matobato ay mga (The statements made by Matobato are) serious allegations against no less than the President and his family. Kaya ingatan natin ‘yung pagpapasa ng judgment (So we have to be careful in passing judgment), because the institution and the state [are] at stake,” Drilon said in an interview with Radio DWIZ.

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

“Dapat po ingatan ang pag-examine natin doon sa kaniyang mga statements dahil seryoso itong kaniyang mga allegation (We have to be careful in examining his statements because these are serious allegations). We must avoid premature conclusions,” he said.

READ: ‘DDS’ member: No one ordered me to pin down Duterte

But the Senator clarified that Matobato’s “serious” allegations against Duterte cannot be dismissed as false.

“We cannot say, at this point, na nagsisinungaling ‘yung testigo (that the witness is lying), but neither can we accept that his testimony is the whole truth. Sa ngayon (Right now), it is too early to assess. Dapat ipagpatuloy ang pagtatanong hangga’t mailabas natin ang katotohanan (We should continue scrutinizing him to ferret out the truth),” he said.

Drilon earlier supported calls of Senator Leila de Lima, chair of the Senate committee on justice and human rights that conducted the inquiry on the extrajudicial killings committed under Duterte’s administration, and Senator Antonio Trillanes IV to put Matobato under the Senate’s protective custody.

READ: Pimentel rejects bid to place Matobato under protective custody 

The proposal, however, was rejected by Senate President Aquilino Pimentel III, saying there was no rule in the Senate justifying the granting of protective custody to Matobato. IDL