FORMER senator Panfilo Lacson on Tuesday slammed former president Rodrigo Duterte's demeanor and "invasion" of the Senate blue ribbon subcommittee investigation on his alleged bloody war on drugs.
The come-backing senator, in a statement, criticized what he perceived was a "disrespectful takeover" of the Senate public hearing on the Duterte administration's controversial war on drugs. He condemned Duterte's demeanor during the drug war probe on Monday conducted by the Senate blue ribbon subcommittee led by Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel III.
Lacson said that only one senator "defended the Senate's dignity" from Duterte's rantings and attacks against those critical of his anti-drugs campaign.
"Yesterday, the upper chamber was 'invaded' by the former President of the Republic," he said referring to Duterte. "Only one consistently and steadfastly stood up to preserve the dignity of the Philippine Senate. She happens to be a woman who answers 'present' during a roll call. Her name: Risa Hontiveros," Lacson said.
Former senator Antonio Trillanes IV echoed Lacson's remarks.
"The only bright spot in yesterday's Senate hearing was Senator Risa's standing up to the evil Duts (Duterte)."
Hontiveros repeatedly admonished Duterte for blurting out profanities during the Senate inquiry. Duterte peppered his testimony with expletives when he defended his iron hand policy against drug suspects and erring policemen.
Lacson said that in one instance, Hontiveros asked Pimentel to admonish "the resource person" (Duterte) to stop using foul language while testifying under oath "kasi bahay natin itong Senado (because the Senate is our home)."
But Pimentel declined to strike his remarks from the transcript. Hontiveros, on Tuesday, said Duterte should first face the law of man before facing the punishment "from hell" for implementing his bloody war on drugs.
"He took full responsibility anyway for the bloody war on drugs that resulted in the death of thousands of Filipinos," she said in a statement in Filipino.
"Only those with hardened hearts could execute extrajudicial killings--from the one who ordered them up to those who pulled the trigger, and to those who hid the evidence," she said.
"It's sad that the one who is supposed to be a lawyer could not understand this," Hontiveros added, referring to Duterte.
She hopes the Department of Justice as well as investigators of the International Criminal Court are seriously reviewing the many admissions and confessions made under oath by Duterte. This included his creation of a death squad in Davao City, his attempt as president to convince police officials to kill certain individuals, and his order to police officers to "encourage" suspects to fight back so they could be summarily executed.
Asked whether he would clarify with Duterte whether he was serious or merely joking when he admitted that he kept a small "death squad," Pimentel said "We have a lot of material to work with. Let the material stay."
"Let criminal law experts study very well the material with the committee. As of the moment I see no need. If some other senators see the need then if they manifest it, I will entertain the idea," Pimentel said in a text message on Wednesday.
Hontiveros said that the Filipino people will "never" take pride in the war on drugs, adding that the stories of its victims deserve to be heard and should motivate lawmakers to take action.
"For those who said that the war on drugs is a punishment for those who went astray, my message to you is this: There is no honor in punishment like 'tokhang.' It should not be an honor to be called 'The Punisher,' when thousands of innocent people, including babies, have died in your name," she said.