Even before the scheduled probe into the alleged extra judicial killings and summary executions starts this month, Senator Leila de Lima is urging the Duterte administration to readily embrace the Senate’s inquiry and participate in the upcoming hearings.
De Lima made the call during her first privilege speech where she also defended herself against the continuing demolition job on her character.
The former Justice Secretary and Commission on Human Rights (CHR) Chief reiterated the need for a congressional inquiry warning that the bloody drug war advocates are “fomenting a hate campaign against those in the civil society, the religious and private sectors and the academe.”
“If this administration is sincerely concerned about the spate of killings of suspected criminals, as it pronounced once before the media, then it should welcome this Senate inquiry,” De Lima said.
“However, even before any Senate resolution was filed, the Solicitor General and the PNP Chief have already made pronouncements that they will not attend any Senate inquiry, when invited or summoned. This premature position of some administration officials is regrettable,” the senator said.
De Lima is referring to Solicitor General Jose Calida and PNP Chief Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa who earlier thumbed down proposals for a congressional hearing into the perceived senseless killings of innocent individuals caught in the ongoing anti-illegal drugs campaign of President Rodrigo Duterte.
“Despite this hate campaign, we have to continue opposing the murder of the innocents as well as that of the suspects. We must call for the accountability of state actors responsible for this terrifying trend in law enforcement, and the investigation of killings perpetrated by the vigilante assassins,” De Lima said.
(HANNAH TORREGOZA)