De Lima considers case vs Dela Rosa
FORMER senator Leila de Lima is considering filing a case against Sen. Ronald Dela Rosa for allegedly pressing a drug lord to implicate her in the illegal drug trade, a charge that resulted in her wrongful detention for years. In a television interview on Tuesday, which was also posted on her social media account, de Lima said she was consulting with her lawyers. "I'm inclined to file a case against Senator Bato, and here we are ... there is a witness who directly, personally, under oath, implicated him," she said, referring to Dela Rosa by his nickname. The former senator, who spent most of her term detained at Camp Crame before her release last year, was referring to confessed drug lord Kerwin Espinosa, who specifically named Dela Rosa as the one who told him to implicate her in the illegal drug trade during testimony before the House of Representatives quad committee on Friday. De Lima said Espinosa's testimony vindicated her, and she knew that Espinosa was coerced all along and that there was a script that he, Ronnie Dayan and former police colonel Jovie Espenido had to follow during the Senate inquiry into her alleged involvement in illegal drugs. "But if you review that hearing, there were still inconsistencies," she said, because the whole story was a fabrication. "Let the whole truth come out. And not only in my case, in my persecution, but also in the whole drug war," she added. The former senator, who also served as a former secretary of the Department of Justice (DoJ), also asked why the administration of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. was still not keen on rejoining the International Criminal Court (ICC), particularly as the solicitor general, Menardo Guevarra, was a justice secretary during the previous administration of former president Rodrigo Duterte, who was behind the war on drugs. "The OSG (Office of the Solicitor General) still wants the [House] quad committee to submit their findings to the DoJ rather than the ICC, but isn't the solicitor general who was a former DoJ secretary that was sleeping on extrajudicial killings? Are my suspicions correct that they don't want the ICC because some of Marcos' recycled people are also complicit in the previous regime's bloody record?" de Lima asked in another social media post on Tuesday. Meanwhile, Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel III said he supports a parallel Senate probe into the Duterte administration's bloody war on drugs. Retired police colonel Royina Garma told lawmakers on October 4 that then-president Rodrigo Duterte allegedly wanted "rewards" given for drug war killings. Garma said they were instructed by Duterte to give rewards for drug war killings, which was patterned after the "Davao Model" that he wanted to be replicated nationwide. She claimed that Duterte had ordered her to find a police official who was a member of the Iglesia Ni Cristo to lead a national anti-drug task force that would give law enforcers P20,000 for each street-level drug suspect killed. Pimentel said a parallel Senate inquiry was an option. "But [it] looks like a good idea to me because it will give us the opportunity to ask cross-examination questions to test the credibility of the witnesses," Pimentel said. "The Senate might summon new witnesses, especially those mentioned [during the quadcomm hearings]," he added. Sen. Bong Go had proposed a similar probe on Duterte's anti-drugs operation as he slammed efforts by some sectors to undermine the former president's achievements in battling illegal drugs. Go on Monday denied the reported reward system in Duterte's war on drugs, describing Garma's statements as "malicious and unsubstantiated," and urged the Senate to conduct a parallel but fair and impartial investigation into her allegations. Garma said the Davao Model involves three levels of payments or rewards: First is the reward if the suspect is killed. Second is the funding of planned operations. Third is the refund of operational expenses. Garma said she recommended her upperclassman at the PNP Academy, then-police colonel Edilberto Leonardo, who was tasked to form the police force after meeting with Duterte.
Tomas Kauer - Moderator 
FORMER senator Leila de Lima is considering filing a case against Sen. Ronald Dela Rosa for allegedly pressing a drug lord to implicate her in the illegal drug trade, a charge that resulted in her wrongful detention for years.
In a television interview on Tuesday, which was also posted on her social media account, de Lima said she was consulting with her lawyers.
"I'm inclined to file a case against Senator Bato, and here we are ... there is a witness who directly, personally, under oath, implicated him," she said, referring to Dela Rosa by his nickname.
The former senator, who spent most of her term detained at Camp Crame before her release last year, was referring to confessed drug lord Kerwin Espinosa, who specifically named Dela Rosa as the one who told him to implicate her in the illegal drug trade during testimony before the House of Representatives quad committee on Friday.
De Lima said Espinosa's testimony vindicated her, and she knew that Espinosa was coerced all along and that there was a script that he, Ronnie Dayan and former police colonel Jovie Espenido had to follow during the Senate inquiry into her alleged involvement in illegal drugs.
"But if you review that hearing, there were still inconsistencies," she said, because the whole story was a fabrication.
"Let the whole truth come out. And not only in my case, in my persecution, but also in the whole drug war," she added.
The former senator, who also served as a former secretary of the Department of Justice (DoJ), also asked why the administration of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. was still not keen on rejoining the International Criminal Court (ICC), particularly as the solicitor general, Menardo Guevarra, was a justice secretary during the previous administration of former president Rodrigo Duterte, who was behind the war on drugs.
"The OSG (Office of the Solicitor General) still wants the [House] quad committee to submit their findings to the DoJ rather than the ICC, but isn't the solicitor general who was a former DoJ secretary that was sleeping on extrajudicial killings? Are my suspicions correct that they don't want the ICC because some of Marcos' recycled people are also complicit in the previous regime's bloody record?" de Lima asked in another social media post on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel III said he supports a parallel Senate probe into the Duterte administration's bloody war on drugs.
Retired police colonel Royina Garma told lawmakers on October 4 that then-president Rodrigo Duterte allegedly wanted "rewards" given for drug war killings.
Garma said they were instructed by Duterte to give rewards for drug war killings, which was patterned after the "Davao Model" that he wanted to be replicated nationwide.
She claimed that Duterte had ordered her to find a police official who was a member of the Iglesia Ni Cristo to lead a national anti-drug task force that would give law enforcers P20,000 for each street-level drug suspect killed.
Pimentel said a parallel Senate inquiry was an option.
"But [it] looks like a good idea to me because it will give us the opportunity to ask cross-examination questions to test the credibility of the witnesses," Pimentel said.
"The Senate might summon new witnesses, especially those mentioned [during the quadcomm hearings]," he added.
Sen. Bong Go had proposed a similar probe on Duterte's anti-drugs operation as he slammed efforts by some sectors to undermine the former president's achievements in battling illegal drugs.
Go on Monday denied the reported reward system in Duterte's war on drugs, describing Garma's statements as "malicious and unsubstantiated," and urged the Senate to conduct a parallel but fair and impartial investigation into her allegations.
Garma said the Davao Model involves three levels of payments or rewards: First is the reward if the suspect is killed. Second is the funding of planned operations. Third is the refund of operational expenses.
Garma said she recommended her upperclassman at the PNP Academy, then-police colonel Edilberto Leonardo, who was tasked to form the police force after meeting with Duterte.
