Senate sets two-day probe on drug-related killings

A Senate panel will start later this month its investigation on the spate of extrajudicial killings of suspected drug pushers that started when President Rodrigo Duterte assumed office on June 30.

Speaking after a closed-door organizational meeting on Thursday, Sen. Leila de Lima, chair of the committee on justice, said the hearings will be conducted on August 22 and 23.

Sen. Panfilo Lacson, who attended the meeting, said he abstained from voting on the resolution filed by De Lima to probe the killings.

"But with a manifestation [that] I am attending the hearings if only to focus on the summary killings perpetrated by non-police personnel," said Lacson, a former head of the Philippine National Police (PNP).

"May misgivings ako na parang ini-indict mo ang police organization na involved sila sa summary killings. But let’s find out, let’s see how things develop during the hearing," he added.
 
De Lima earlier filed a Senate resolution seeking a legislative probe on the killings of drug suspects that could lead to the institutionalization of operational procedures of the PNP, Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency, and other law enforcement agencies.

The neophyte senator said the all-out offensive of the Duterte administration against illegal drugs is laudable but should not be done at the expense of human rights and due process.

“Halos araw-araw may mga namamatay and many of them are an offshoot of police operations, so we have to look into the legitimacy of the manner of the method by which these police enforcers are doing their job,” De Lima had said.

A former Commission on Human Rights chair, De Lima said she was bothered by the fact that there seemed to be no proper investigation on the killings.

Ifugao Rep. Teddy Baguilat has filed a similar resolution at the House of Representatives. —KBK, GMA News