A LAWMAKAER in the Lower House of Congress criticized Senators Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa and Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go for attending the Senate hearing on the war on drugs despite calls for them to recuse themselves.
“We strongly condemn the shameless display of partisan defense and self-serving statements made by Senators Bong Go and Ronald ‘Bato’ Dela Rosa during the Senate inquiry into the Duterte administration’s bloody war on drugs,” said Gabriela party-list Rep. Arlene Brosas.
Yesterday, the Senate Blue Ribbon committee commenced the war on drugs inquiry attended by former President Rodrigo Duterte.
During the Quad committee hearing, Dela Rosa and Go were directly implicated in the war on drugs, particularly in extrajudicial killings (EJK) and the payment to police officers involved in the killings of suspects linked to illegal drugs.
“These two senators, who were key officials during former president Rodrigo Duterte’s term, have no moral authority to participate in this investigation. Senator Go, as Duterte’s former top aide, and Senator Dela Rosa, who implemented the deadly Oplan Tokhang as then-PNP chief, should recuse themselves from the proceedings due to clear conflict of interest,” according to Brosas.
As expected, Dela Rosa and Go used the opportunity to deny their involvement in EJK, but Brosas considers this as their attempt to absolve themselves and disrupt the war on drugs investigation.
She deems this as an insult to the thousands of victims of the war on drugs, especially innocent children who were killed without any involvement in illegal drugs, with some falsely accused of resisting arrest.
“Their statements are nothing but a desperate bid to protect their former boss while completely disregarding the pain and trauma of those who lost their loved ones to extrajudicial killings,” added Brosas.
As a result, the lawmaker appealed to the Senate leadership not to allow the chamber to be used to cleanse those involved in the war on drugs and instead ensure that the guilty are held accountable and justice is served for the victims who were killed defenselessly.
