Next Senate drug war probe eyed mid-November, says Bato

Senate Minority Leader Aquilino "Koko" Pimentel III has informed Senator Ronald "Bato" dela Rosa that the Blue Ribbon subcommittee's investigation into the war on drugs might continue in the middle of November.

According to Dela Rosa, the Senate panel might no longer invite former President Rodrigo Duterte in the next hearing.

"Sabi ni Sen. Koko, maybe in the middle of November... Puwedeng while the budget deliberation is going on sa plenary meron din kaming time na magconduct ng hearing in the morning," Dela Rosa told reporters in a press conference.

(According to Senator Koko, we might continue the hearing in the middle of November. We could conduct it while the budget deliberation is ongoing in the plenary. We have time to conduct the hearing in the morning.)

Asked if Duterte will attend, Dela Rosa said, "Hindi na siguro dahil  nasabi naman niya lahat at natanong naman lahat ang gustong itanong sa kanya."

(I don't think so because he already aired his side and he already answered all the questions of the panel.)

Dela Rosa, Duterte's ally, said the former president could be invited again if there are serious allegations that will be raised in the next hearing.

In a previous Viber message to reporters, Pimentel said he "sees no need" for Duterte to be invited in the next drug war probe hearing.

"As of the moment, I see no need. If some other senators see the need then if they manifest it, I will entertain the idea," the minority leader said.

"Na-admit na, ipapabawi pa? We have a lot of material to work with. Let the material stay. Let the criminal law experts study very well the material with the committee," he added.

(He already made his admissions. Would you give him an opportunity to retract it?)

Last week, Duterte faced the Senate probe on the drug war and admitted to having a death squad and ordering police officers to kill criminals.

In the next hearing, Pimentel said the panel has "to make sure" that retired Police Colonel and former PCSO general manager Royina Garma and former National Police Commission commissioner Edilberto Leonardo will attend.

Garma earlier bared before the House QuadComm that then President-elect Duterte asked her help in forming a team for the implementation of a nationwide drug war campaign patterned after a Davao model, a system that rewarded police officers with money per drug suspect killed.

Garma, a former Cebu City police chief, also said that the bounty for each drug suspect killed ranges from P20,000 to P1 million per suspect killed.

In addition to revealing Duterte’s Davao model of rewarding kills nationwide, Garma said she witnessed the Davao model of rewarding police officers per kill when she was assigned in Davao City.

Before Garma’s revelations, two persons deprived of liberty (PDL), Fernando Magdadaro and Leopoldo Tan Jr., also testified before the QuadComm that they killed three Chinese individuals convicted of drug charges on the orders of former President Duterte.

Government records show that there were at least 6,200 drug suspects killed in police operations from June 2016 to November 2021, but several human rights groups have refuted this and say that the number may have reached as much as 30,000 due to unreported related killings.

The International Criminal Court is also investigating Duterte's war on drugs. —AOL, GMA Integrated News