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De Lima seeks Senate probe on ‘suspicious’ Ozamiz raid


Senator Leila de Lima on Wednesday filed a resolution calling for a Senate probe on the “suspicious” circumstances surrounding the bloody Ozamiz raid that resulted in the death of Mayor Reynaldo Parojinog Sr. and 15 others.

The raid also resulted in the arrests of Vice Mayor Nova Princess Parojinog-Echavez and Reynaldo Parojinog Jr.

De Lima filed Senate Resolution No. 453 directing the appropriate committee to conduct the probe, in aid of legislation.

De Lima, a former Justice secretary, questioned the serving of the search warrant on the Parojinogs’ compound before dawn.

The senator cited the Operational Procedures found in the PNP Handbook published in 2013, which states that “the warrant should be served during daytime, unless there is a provision in the warrant allowing service at any time of the day or night.”

“Considering the established legal procedures, jurisprudence and witness testimonies during media interview, the timing and manner of the raid strongly challenges the circumstances surrounding the implementation of the search warrant and the deaths resulting therefrom,” De Lima said.

“It appears that the fact that the search warrant was implemented under the cover of darkness and with the cameras disabled indicates that there is a malevolent intent under the guise of implementing a warrant,” she added.

De Lima reminded authorities that a search warrant is “not a warrant to kill” nor a “death sentence.”

She said the pattern of how search warrants were implemented by the PNP “creates the impression” that warrants are used “to facilitate extrajudicial killings of mere suspects in accordance with the ‘nanlaban’ narrative.”

“It is imperative for the Senate to conduct a deeper probe into these disturbing pattern of abuse, especially in the context of martial law,” De Lima said.

PNP chief Director General Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa earlier defended the predawn raid, saying it gave the authorities the advantage they needed.

The Parojinogs appeared on President Rodrigo Duterte’s list of politicians allegedly linked to the drug trade.

Police officers who conducted the raid claimed they were met by a volley of gunfire as they were about to enter the Parojinogs’ compound before dawn Sunday. The authorities had six warrants to search the houses for loose firearms.

Senator Panfilo Lacson, chairman of the Senate public order committee, earlier said there was nothing irregular in the serving of search warrants before day time.

“Anong irregularity for example?...Mahirap kasi ang kada police operation at may namamatay tatawag tayo ng hearing. Imagine anong hitsura ng Senado tuwing may mamamatay sa police operation tatawag tayo ng hearing?” Lacson, a former PNP chief, said. — RSJ, GMA News

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