House invites Duterte to drug war probe anew

The House of Representatives' quad committee will be again inviting former president Rodrigo Duterte to attend its next scheduled hearing on Nov. 7, when it continues its probe on alleged extrajudicial killings (EJKs) during his term.

- DELON PORCALLA

Quad comm chairman Rep. Robert Ace Barbers said they will be sending another invitation to the former chief executive since he showed up at the EJK inquiry of the Senate Blue Ribbon subcommittee on Monday.

Panel co-chair Rep. Benny Abante observed that Duterte didn't seem to be of frail health when he attended the Senate probe and was, in effect, calling the shots during his testimony.

He urged Duterte to face the panel and tell the truth about his administration's bloody anti-drug war and the thousands of EJK victims that resulted from his administration's campaign against illegal drugs.

"If he was physically well to attend the Senate inquiry on Monday, he should have no excuse to skip our next hearing," he said.

"We expect the former president to show up in our next hearing. We have many questions to ask him about his war on drugs and the deaths that resulted from it. We believe his answers will give us a more complete picture of the EJKs," he added.

Duterte will face tougher questions should he agree to testify before the House, Abante said.

In an interview with "Storycon" on One News yesterday, Abante said they are ready to ask the former president many of the questions that were not asked during the Senate Blue Ribbon subcommittee hearing last Monday.

For instance, he said they have a video of Duterte saying that he used intelligence funds for the war on drugs.

"We'd like to ask him, how did he use the intelligence funds for the war on drugs?" the lawmaker said.

Unlike in the Senate, Abante said they will not allow Duterte to dominate the hearing.

"There was only one senator that actually asked the real questions and that was Sen. Risa Hontiveros. The other senators were actually timid in asking questions," he added.

Abante also noted Sen. Ronald dela Rosa became defensive during the hearing.