Former President Rodrigo Duterte’s attendance at a Senate Blue Ribbon Committee hearing scheduled on Oct. 28 appears to be in limbo as he is currently rethinking whether or not to show up, according to Senate Minority Leader Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III.
In a interview on Thursday, Pimentel, who was designated to lead the Senate’s parallel probe on mass killings associated with the previous administration’s “war on drugs,” said the excitement over the ex-leader’s expected presence was dampened by uncertainty.
“I heard he is having second thoughts. Better wait for Monday to find out if he will be there or not,” he said in Filipino.
“Everyone is excited [over Duterte’s Senate appearance] and there is a long list of people invited to attend,” the Blue Ribbon sub-committee head pointed out.
It can be recalled that Duterte also skipped the House Quad Committee’s hearing on extrajudicial killings (EJKs) on Tuesday.
Earlier this week, Senate President Francis ‘Chiz’ Escudero confirmed the former president’s attendance at the hearing, saying that Duterte responded positively to Senator Ronald ‘Bato’ Dela Rosa’s invitation.
Dela Rosa, the Philippine National Police chief during the Duterte government’s early years and a close associate of the former president, is also scheduled to be grilled by his colleagues at the Upper Chamber.
“Senator Bato has no choice but to share his experiences during the drug war with the committee,” Pimentel noted.
For his part, Dela Rosa expressed no remorse over the manner the anti-drug campaign was carried out during his term as national police chief.
“No regrets. If you are going to give me the chance to do it again, I will do it again. The same approach,” dela Rosa said on Thursday.
Meanwhile, the Senate Blue Ribbon panel also invited retired police Lieutenant Colonel Royina Garma, who earlier told the House Quad Comm about the inner workings of the Duterte administration’s reward system for police officers who manage to kill drug suspects.
Duterte’s supposed hesitation to attend the Chamber’s probe comes even as he recently expressed eagerness to participate in legislative inquiries on his government’s drug war, which conservative estimates indicate killed upwards of 6,000 individuals.
“I am happy to appear in both the lower and upper houses of Congress,” he said during a television interview on Oct. 18.
“Many people have been called or will be called [to the hearings]… and since it’s all about me. Why summon other people? Why don’t they just call me,” Duterte further said in Filipino during last week’s interview.
