MANILA – Former President Rodrigo Duterte will be invited in a separate “war on drugs” investigation that the Senate will conduct during the session break.
The said probe is to be presided by the Senate Committee on Public Order and Dangerous Drugs of Sen. Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa, a known ally of the former Chief Executive.
“Ipapatawag natin si President Duterte at kung sinu-sino pang Cabinet member niya noon na pwede nating magiging resource person,” Dela Rosa said. “I do think na mag-attend siya kung ako ang mag-imbita.”
He added: “Hindi ko pa nasabi sa kanya, pero malaking posibilidad na mag-attend siya kung kami mag-
imbita. Mukhang mas komportable siya dito sa Senado kesa Lower House.”
Duterte and Dela Rosa were both invited by the House of Representatives’ quad-committee, which has been investigating the war on drugs during the previous administration, but they opted not to attended.
Dela Rosa said his committee will conduct a motu proprio investigation while he awaits a pending resolution from Sen. Christopher “Bong” Go about a parallel Senate investigation into the Duterte administration’s war on drugs.
Go raised a parallel probe amid what he called “baseless accusations” raised against him, the former president, and Dela Rosa in the ongoing House Quadcomm investigation into the matter.
Dela Rosa was a former Philippine National Police chief during the Duterte administration.
Government records show that there were at least 6,200 drug suspects killed in police operations from June 2016 to November 2021, but several human rights groups say that the number may have reached as much as 30,000 due to unreported related killings./PN
