Duterte, Bato ready for Senate drug war probe

MANILA, Philippines — It’s definitely a go for former president Rodrigo Duterte at tomorrow’s Senate Blue Ribbon subcommittee hearing on his deadly drug war, according to Sen. Ronald dela Rosa, who may also have to answer allegations of his complicity in the thousands of deaths that became the trademark of the crackdown against illegal drugs.

In a radio interview, Dela Rosa said he felt no need to prepare for a face-off tomorrow with some personalities, including a suspected drug lord and several ranking police officers, who had linked him to a reward system in the enforcement of Duterte’s campaign to neutralize suspected drug offenders.

The accusations against Dela Rosa were raised at the hearings by the quad committee of the House of Representatives on extrajudicial killings during the Duterte administration’s war on drugs.

 “I can answer them point by point without preparation. I will share my personal knowledge, not chismis or opinion,” Dela Rosa said over radio dwIZ yesterday.

“There is no need for preparation when it comes to the truth. Everything will come out naturally in the course of the hearing. No need to rehearse,” he added.

Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel III will lead the Senate investigation.

Dela Rosa confirmed that he recently had dinner with Duterte, the latter’s partner Honeylet Avanceña and Davao del Norte Rep. Pantaleon Alvarez in Davao City after attending a gun show.

He claimed they did not talk about the coming Senate Blue Ribbon committee hearing.

Duterte boarded his flight to Manila after that dinner, Dela Rosa said. The former president earlier begged off from a quad comm investigation, saying he was invited on very short notice. His camp said he is willing to attend future hearings.

“He is ready. We did not talk about the investigation, but he said he will face the Senate and answer questions,” Dela Rosa said, referring to Duterte.

Meanwhile, Pimentel said there’s no stopping the International Criminal Court (ICC) from accessing the documents to be made public at tomorrow’s hearing.

But he stressed the Blue Ribbon subcommittee would have to seek the consensus of its members first before giving ICC full access to the