Duterte to skip House probe on drug war deaths — Panelo

Former president Rodrigo Duterte will once again decline the invitation of the four House joint committees to attend the hearing on the alleged extrajudicial killings during his administration's war on illegal drugs, former presidential chief legal counsel Salvador Panelo said Monday.

“FPRRD (former president Rodrigo Roa Duterte) said he won’t attend because it’s a useless exercise. Resource persons are not allowed to explain. The committee members stop them from speaking out,” Panelo told GMA News Online in a Viber message.

According to Manila lawmaker Benny Abante, the House joint committees plan to invite Duterte following former Iloilo City Mayor Jed Mabilog’s claim that his name was included in the narcolist because he did not support Duterte in the 2016 elections.

Abante, who is also co-chairman of the House Quad Committee, said the House is trying to invite the former president to hear his side on the allegations thrown against him.

Panelo reiterated that Mabilog’s claim on why his name is in the narcolist is “a lot of nonsense.”

“Except for Gov Angel Amante of Agusan del Norte, no LGU heads supported him, yet when he became President he supported all of them in their programs and projects,” Panelo said.

“Mabilog should answer the drug charge if there is one. If there is none because he flew to the US to escape prosecution, he should be prosecuted if the government has the evidence,” he added.

Duterte and then-Philippine National Police chief Ronald Dela Rosa were previously invited to attend the House drug war probe but both declined to present. themselves.

Abante reiterated that the House would give courtesy to the former Philippine leader and would not cite him in contempt nor issue a show cause order should he refuse to attend the House hearing. — RSJ, GMA Integrated News