DELA ROSA SA PNP-PDEA MISENCOUNTER: HEARING CAN WAIT, JUSTICE CANNOT BE DENIED

BARADO kay Senador Ronaldo “Bato” Dela Rosa ang kahilingan ni Senador Risa Hontiveros na magsagawa ng malawakang imbestigasyon ang Senado sa sinasabing “misencounter” sa pagitan ng Philippine National Police (PNP) at Philippine Drugs Enforcement Agency (PDEA) sa Quezon City kamakailan.

Sa pahayag, sinabi ni Dela Rosa na naniniwala siyang dapat mauna ang paghingi ng katarungan kaysa pangangailangan na amendahan o dagdagan ang umiiral na patakaran na sangkot ang mga law enforcement units.

Sinabi ni Dela Rosa, chairman ng Senate committee on public order and dangerous drugs na itutuloy ang imbestigasyon sa takdang panahon saka idinagdag na walang masama kung pagbibigyan ang kahilingan ni Pangulong Duterte na Hayaan munang matapos ang isinasagawang  imbestigasyon ng   National Bureau of Investigation (NBI).

“Yes, in due time. There is nothing wrong with giving in to the request of a co-equal branch of government, particularly the Malacañang, to enable our resource persons to concentrate on the investigation being conducted by the NBI,” lahad ng senador.

Kamakailan, inihain ni Hontiveros ang Senate Resolution No. 667 na humihiling sa komite ni Dela Rosa na imbestigahan ang kasalukuyang patakaran at protocols ng law enforcement upang maiwasan ang  “misencounter.”

“May kinalaman ba ang ibang opisyal ng PNP o ng PDEA sa kalakal ng ilegal na droga? Saang banda ito naging misencounter? We must find out now. We need to know if the incident was a simple ‘misencounter’ caused by gross negligence, or if it resulted from deliberate unlawful acts committed by either the police officers or the PDEA agents involved,”  punto ni Hontiveros.

“May pagkakasala ba sa batas ang operasyong ginawa ng ilan sa mga opisyal natin? Hindi kaya lantarang nagbebenta talaga ang ilan sa kanila ng ilegal na droga? We, in the Senate, are well within our rights to investigate this further, especially that the details are still murky,” aniya.

Pero, sinabi ni Dela Rosa, dating PNP chief at arkitekto ng war on drugs ng administrasyon na kailangan mabigyan muna ng katarungan ang biktima kaysa unahin ang tungkulin ng lehislatibo na magtakda ng patakaran.

“After all, the truth can more likely be achieved via cooperation and not competition. It is my humble opinion that the attainment of justice must take precedence over policy formulations. The latter can wait but the former cannot be denied.”

 “We seek to be enlightened in this proceeding but one thing is for sure, there were fatal casualties and we do not want that to ever happen again—most especially between our own government forces. Hopefully, after our hearing, we would be able to determine if there is a need to amend or revise our laws concerning our law enforcement authorities,” paliwanag pa ni Dela Rosa.