Former Pres. Duterte Attends Senate Hearing on Drug War
DUTERTE – The former President stressed during the Senate hearing that he will take full responsibility of his admin’s war on drugs campaign.
Currently, both the Senate and the House of Representatives are having investigations on the war on drugs of the previous administration. The former has its first hearing on the issue today. The war on drugs is surrounded by several accusations including the deaths being linked to the campaign.
Senator Koko Pimentel stressed that the hearing on the drug war will push through with or without former Pres. Rodrigo Duterte. His statement came after the former Chief Executive’s absences in the inquiries set by the House Quad Committee.
The former President reportedly skipped the House QuadComm hearing again as he is not feeling well. Meanwhile, it is a different story in the Senate which set its first hearing today. The former President came to the inquiry set by the upper chamber.
In a chance interview upon his arrival at the Senate, former Pres. Rodrigo Duterte claimed that he did what he had to do and his war on drugs is for the Filipino people and the country. He let the Filipinos decide on how they see his campaign.
At the Senate hearing, former Pres. Duterte took full responsibility of the war on drugs under his administration. Based on a report on ABS-CBN News, the former Chief Executive stressed that he should be the one to be held responsible on his orders to the police.
“I and I alone, take full legal responsibility sa lahat ng nagawa ng mga pulis pursuant to my order. Ako ang managot at ako ang makulong. ‘Wag ang pulis na sumunod sa order ko. Kawawa naman, nagtatrabaho lang,” the former President said.
According to Duterte, he did the war on drugs to protect the Filipino people. He claimed that he offers no apologies on what was done as he did it for the Philippines. He stressed that his campaign is not all about killing people but about “protecting the innocent and the defenseless”.
Based on the report, the former President claimed that even when he was Davao City mayor still, he has told the police not to go beyond the mandate of the power. He stressed that it is the same when he became president.
Sen. Bato dela Rosa, a close-ally of Duterte, expressed no regrets in being part of the drug war. He was the chief of the Philippine National Police (PNP) in the implementation of the previous administration’s controversial campaign.