Bato should stop talking conspiracies, be accountable for EJKs -solon

House Deputy Minority Leader and ACT Teachers Partylist Rep. France Castro said Senator Ronald "Bato" Dela Rosa ought to stop “screaming conspiracies” and instead be held accountable for extrajudicial killings (EJKs) during former President Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs.

In her Saturday statement, Castro said dela Rosa was trying to be “nonchalant” when he asked President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. to protect him from the  International Criminal Court (ICC), while at the same time issuing “red-tagging herrings”  and fake conspiracies.

She also denied dela Rosa's claims that the administration, the left, and “yellows” were forming an alliance.

"Senator Dela Rosa is jumping out of his skin every time he is being made to account for his role in the extra-judicial killings during the fake drug war of the Duterte administration… He should really get his facts straight and not just go out screaming conspiracy theories. All we want is transparency, accountability, and justice for the transgressions of the past administration," said Castro.

Castro continued to call for a probe into human rights violations during the previous administration.

"If he has nothing to hide, then he should just attend the probes and face the ICC. Senator dela Rosa's attempts to paint legitimate calls for accountability as some sort of political conspiracy only serve to highlight the urgent need for a proper investigation into these serious allegations,” she stated.

"We will continue to push for accountability and justice, regardless of Senator Dela Rosa's unfounded accusations. The Filipino people deserve the truth, and no amount of conspiracy theories can change that fact," she added.

On  August 16, Senator Dela Rosa claimed that he was saddened by the fact that “opportunistic” House members who supported him and former President Duterte during their administration were now against them and had forgotten their principles.

"For those who are so fast in changing their stand, in changing their views and changing their everything, all I can say is that these people are so opportunistic.  They forget their principles," dela Rosa said.

"Mas  pina-prioritize nila 'yung opportunity. Whatever that opportunity is,  sila lang nakakalaam."

(They give more priority to opportunities. Whatever the opportunity is, they are the only ones who know.)

He also stated that he had not been invited to the joint investigation into the EJKs, the war on drugs, and the POGOs.

Duterte is facing an investigation by the International Criminal  Court (ICC) over alleged crimes against humanity due to the drug war-related killings during his term. — DVM, GMA Integrated News