Dela Rosa says ex-Pres. Duterte should face court for drug killings if there’s evidence; Castro says charges 'long overdue'

President Rodrigo Duterte should face criminal charges over drug war deaths during police operations if there is sufficient evidence against him, Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa said.

Dela Rosa made the position during the Tanong ng Bayan: The GMA Senatorial Face-Off 2025.

“Ang sagot ko dyan [on filing charges against the former President] is conditional, no? Hybrid. Pwedeng yes, pwedeng no. Yes, in the sense na nobody is above the law. Kapag mayroon siyang nagawang kasalanan, kasuhan natin,” dela Rosa said.

(My answer is conditional. It could be a yes or no. Yes since nobody is above the law. If he violated the laws, he should be charged.)

“Pero kung wala naman siya nagawang kasalanan, huwag mo siyang kasuhan base doon sa kaso ng ibang tao. Because guilt is personal. Huwag po natin ipaangkin kay Pangulong Duterte ‘yung kasalanan ng ninja cops,” dela Rosa added.

(But if he is not at fault, we should not charge him based on the cases filed against other people. Let us not charge the former President over the sins of ninja cops.)

House Deputy Minority Leader France Castro, however, said Duterte and even dela Rosa cannot wash their hands off drug war deaths during the police’s anti-drug operations given that the former President has tasked police officials to kill drug war suspects.

“Dapat lang [na] kasuhan si dating presidente Duterte. Long overdue na ito. Pati mga kasama niya at [iyong mga] nag utos sa pagpatay sa war on drugs. Libo-libo ang pinapatay ni Duterte pero wala pang napapanagot,” Castro said.

(Duterte must be charged as it is long overdue, alongside his cohorts in killing in the name of the war on drugs. Thousands were killed on Duterte’s orders and yet nobody is being held liable.)

“Mismong siya, si [former] President Duterte, ay umamin na pumatay siya ng tao. Kaya kailangan siyang kasuhan. At ito [ang punto ko]: sino ba yung nag-disenyo ng mga policy na ito? Siya rin. Siya ang dahilan ng pagpatay. Maging si Senator Bato ay dapat kasuhan,” Castro added.

(No less than Duterte admitted that he killed people. And so he needs to be charged. My point is, who designed the drug war policy. He is the reason for these killings. Even Senator dela Rosa should be charged.)

Dela Rosa then turned the tables on Castro and asked why she remained free over a lower court conviction.

“Gigil na gigil kang kasuhan si Pangulong Duterte at ako [sa] mga kaso na hindi mo kami mali-link. Kumusta na po yung conviction mo sa kasong child trafficking? Ano na po nangyari? Bakit andiyan ka pa? Hindi ka pa nakulong?,” dela Rosa said.

(You are so obsessed with indicting former President Duterte and me over charges that you have no links to. How about your child trafficking conviction? What happened to that? Why are you still here? Why are you not in jail?)

“Mga parents ng mga bata mismo ay galit na galit sa kanya. Bakit ginamit niya ang mga kabataan para sa kanilang kapakanan? Walang rescue na nangyari doon,” dela Rosa added.

(The children’s parents are mad at her. Why use children for your gain? There are no rescue operations there.)

Castro’s conviction before a Davao city court, however, is not on child trafficking but endangering minors. 

This stemmed from the trafficking charge filed against them and 17 others for allegedly holding minors during their solidarity mission in Talaingod, Davao Del Norte in November 2018.

Castro then countered that dela Rosa was out of order because his response is non-responsive to the question.

“If we were in Congress, he would be out of order because he is not answering the question,” Castro said.

In addition, Castro maintained that she was wrongfully convicted in the endangering of minors case.

“Tama lang po ‘yung ginawa ko na pagre-rescue sa mga teachers, sa mga bata na biktima ng mga harassment, intimidation at threat doon sa sinasabi ni Senator Bato na kaso. So kung sinumang teacher, gagawin ‘yun:  itong ipagtatangol  at sagipin ‘yung ating mga teacher  at mga estudyante,” Castro said.

(What I did was the right thing to do. I rescued the teachers, students, who were being harassed, intimidated and threatened. Any teacher would have done the same to save teachers and students.)

“Walang mali doon sa ginawa po natin. Iyong mga sinasabi ng mga magulang na galit na galit sa akin, gawa-gawa lang ito. Kung titignan natin ‘yung mga magulang ng mga bata na talagang involved doon sa pag-aaral ng mga bata doon sa Lumad School, ay talagang nanghihinayang sila doon sa pagsasara ng mga eskwelahan ng mga Lumad. Dahil alam naman natin na kulang talaga sa serbisyong pang-edukasyon ang mga Lumad at sinisisi ang gobyernong Duterte," Castro added.

(We did not do anything wrong. Those parents supposedly mad at me are fake parents. The real parents of those children in the Lumad School are really disheartened over the fact that the Lumad schools were closed because the government is not really providing enough Lumad schools for these indigenous people.)

Answering the question on the House Quad Committee's recommendation to charge him over the reported killings during Duterte's drug war implementation, Dela Rosa reiterated that the investigation was not in aid of legislation, but a demolition job against the former president and his allies.

"Halata na ang QuadComm ay binuo ng Speaker of the House para gamitin na pang-giba, pang demolish ng mga Duterte at mga kaalyado at kaya ngayon, ‘yung apat na komite na yan, pinag-grupo-grupo na inisa nila, walang ibang direksyon ‘yan kundi tirahin ang mga Duterte at kaalyado," he said.

(It is obvious that the Speaker of the House has formed the QuadComm to demolish Duterte and his allies. Now, the direction of these four committees is to target Duterte and his allies.)

Dela Rosa stressed that the Department of Justice itself has yet to file charges against them three years after Duterte stepped down from office.

"So, halata po na demolition job ito (It's obvious that this is a demolition job). This is not an investigation in aid of legislation. In fact, this is an investigation in aid of persecution, Investigation in aid of demolition," he said. — LDF/RSJ, GMA Integrated News

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