Senator Ronald "Bato" Dela Rosa (Senate PRIB)

Will Senator Ronald "Bato" dela Rosa be investigating himself? 

Such was the question--and apprehension--of Gabriela Party-list Rep. Arlene Brosas and Santa Rosa City lone district Rep. Dan Fernandez amid the Senate's plan to conduct a parallel investigation on the anti-illegal drug campaign of former president Rodrigo Duterte. 

The Dela Rosa-chaired Senate Committee on Public Order and Dangerous Drugs is expected to carry out the probe on the bloody drug war--something that the quad-committee (quad-comm) in the House of Representatives has been doing since August this year. 

"Sino ang iimbestigahan niya, sarili niya? (Who will he investigate, himself?) This planned investigation by Sen. Bato, who himself was accused of playing a central role in Duterte's war on drugs, is nothing but a biased attempt to sanitize their involvement," Brosas, a member of the Makabayan bloc, said in a statement Thursday, Oct. 17. 

"Public funds should not be squandered on inquiries that are engineered to absolve rather than to uncover the truth," said the House assistant minority leader and aspiring senator. 

Fernandez, a co-chairman of the quad-comm and member of the majority bloc, shared Brosas' sentiment. 


“Delicadeza na lang sana ang pairalin ni Sen. Bato (Sen. Bato should have observed delicadeza). For me it is highly inappropriate for him, the chief enforcer of the drug war, to lead a probe into the very operations he designed and implemented,” said Fernandez. 

“As the architect of the war on drugs, Sen. Bato would be practically investigating himself. This undermines the integrity and objectivity of any findings that may result from this investigation,” noted the lawmaker from Laguna. 
 

CLICK THIS: 

https://mb.com.ph/2024/10/15/duterte-s-use-of-intel-funds-in-drug-war-to-be-probed 

Fernandez had said on Tuesday, Oct. 15, that he actually favored a parallel inquiry in the Senate about the war on drugs. But this was before it was widely reported that the Senate Committee on Public Order and Dangerous Drugs would conduct it. 

"Well, it is also their right to be there in their own investigation. I can accept that. Being a part of the legislative processes, being a senator. Mas OK nga yun eh (It's actually better to have one)," Fernandez had been quoted as saying. 

Dela Rosa--handpicked by then-president Duterte--was the Philippine National Police (PNP) chief during the launch of the drug war in 2016. 

He was elected senator in 2019. 

Duterte was the chief executive from 2016 to 2022. It was only this year that either chamber of Congress seriously looked into the drug war despite persistent allegations of extrajuducial killings (EJKs).