MANILA 6th District Rep. Bienvenido “Benny” Abante Jr. on Monday challenged Sen. Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa to attend the House quad-committee investigation and clarify his role in the alleged extrajudicial killings (EJKs) linked to the Duterte administration’s war on drugs.
Abante, chair of the House Committee on Human Rights and co-chair of the quad-committee, issued the challenge after Dela Rosa criticized the committee for allegedly rehashing the issue, calling the investigation a “broken record.”
Dela Rosa, who served as former President Rodrigo Roa Duterte’s first police chief and architect of the controversial anti-drug campaign that claimed thousands of lives, mostly among the urban poor, dismissed the ongoing inquiries as “paulit-ulit” or repetitive, and described them as a “fishing expedition.”
“Sen. Bato is always welcome to express his thoughts in our hearings,” Abante told reporters in an interview via Zoom, noting that Dela Rosa had been invited by his committee multiple times but had yet to attend to shed light on the EJK issue.
“Kahit na before the quad-committee was formed, the Committee on Human Rights extended an invitation to the good senator so he could be able to air his side. He has yet to accept any of the invitations extended to him, although it appears that he has a lot of thoughts on the matter,” Abante pointed out.
He urged Dela Rosa to bring his views directly to the quad-committee.
“Kung may sasabihin, huwag niya sabihin sa media, sabihin niya sa quad-comm para talagang maging malinaw ang mga sagot niya. We’re giving him the opportunity, due process for him to air his side and for us to be able to know his feelings about this,” he said.
Dela Rosa had repeatedly declined the House invitations, citing inter-parliamentary courtesy as an excuse.
Responding to Dela Rosa’s claim that the investigations are repetitive, Abante argued that the hearings have uncovered new and significant information.
“Hindi paulit-ulit. Mas mabuti pumunta siya para tinanong maigi kung paulit-ulit ito,” Abante said, urging Dela Rosa to attend the hearings and see for himself.
“Nagpa-present kami ng iba-ibang mga witnesses kasi nais namin maulit na makita at maimbestiga ang maraming kamalian na nangyayari,” he stressed.
Abante cited a key finding from the committee’s four hearings, particularly the quota system for drug war accomplishments among police officers.
“Anong natuklasan namin noong last hearing na sinabi ng ilang mga kapulisan natin na may reward system, may quota system?” he explained.“
“Itinatanggi ng iba ito pero ‘pag nakakausap ang ibang mga police officers natin, may police officers na active pa, siya mismo nagsabi na may reward system. ‘Pag nakakapatay po ang police ng drug pusher, binibigyan po ng pera ‘yan.”
Abante reiterated that his actions are not politically motivated but are part of his advocacy for justice.
“Actually alam mo, unang-unang sabihin ko rito, trabaho lang ito, walang personalan, walang politika,” he said.
“Palagay ko kilala na ako lahat na I’m not doing this for politics sake, I’m doing this dahil kailangang gawin ito as part of my advocacy,” he added.
The veteran lawmaker stressed that the pain of the victims’ families cannot be dismissed.
“Now ito tulad ng ganyan. I mean hindi pwedeng sabihin na kahit namatay po ‘yan 2018, maaaring kalimutan ng mga magulang ‘yan. Until now they’re crying for justice,” Abante said. “So it is up to the committee to be able to really investigate on that.”
The House quad-committee—composed of the Committees on Dangerous Drugs, Public Order and Safety, Human Rights and Public Accounts—is currently investigating the links between Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators, the illegal drug trade, and EJKs during the Duterte administration’s bloody war on drugs.
