Hitman can get protection outside Senate – Drilon

MANILA, Philippines - Denied protective custody within the Senate, self-confessed Davao death squad member Edgar Matobato can still enjoy protection from the chamber’s committee on justice and human rights before which he had testified on President Duterte’s links to the group.

Senate President Pro Tempore Franklin Drilon said it was within the prerogative of Senate President Aquilino Pimentel III to decide on recommendations to place witnesses under the protective custody of the Senate.

However, Drilon said the Senate President’s power covers only custody within the grounds of the Senate and not outside the premises.

“Senate President Pimentel has the discretion whether or not to place a person inside the premises of the Senate. But as whether or not one is placed under the committee’s protective custody is within the power of the committee,” Drilon said.

“The committee also has the power, and can opt to, provide protection to its witnesses even outside of the Senate. Such power cannot be vetoed by the Senate President,” he added.

During last Thursday’s hearing on the alleged extrajudicial and summary killings of suspected drug pushers, Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV requested that Matobato be placed under the protective custody of the Senate and given legislative immunity.

The recommendation was carried by De Lima and relayed to Pimentel.

However, on the same day, Pimentel rejected the request, saying that there is “no Senate rule to justify it and no showing that his life or safety is threatened.” He added that the testimony of Matobato was not even relevant to the resolution being investigated.

Drilon said the provision of protective custody to witnesses has long been done in the Senate, including during the time when he was Senate President.

But since Pimentel has rejected to grant this to Matobato, Drilon said that the committee on justice and human rights led by De Lima can proceed with securing the witness on its own, outside of the Senate.

He said the committee has a working budget that it can use to cover for the expenses involved.

In an interview over dwIZ yesterday, Pimentel said the Senate is not the proper place to ask for protection for Matobato.

“What is Matobato in the eyes of the Senate? There is no pending matter in the Senate about that. Let us ensure the security of Matobato but please, spare the Senate. Please go to the correct government agency,” Pimentel said.

He agreed with Drilon that the committee can work on securing Matobato as long as it does not involve the Senate facilities or its employees or the chamber’s budget.

Drilon said he would like to have Matobato back in a future hearing of the committee so he can share more information about the killings in Davao City.

“What Matobato revealed were serious allegations against no less than the President and his family. So let’s not be quick in passing judgment because the institution and the state is at stake. We have to examine his statements carefully because they are serious allegations. We must avoid premature conclusions,” Drilon said.

“We cannot say, at this point that he’s telling a lie, but neither can we accept that his testimony is the whole truth. At this point, it is too early to assess. We have to continue the questioning so we can ferret out the truth,” he added.

But Pimentel disagreed, saying Matobato’s testimony was outside of the scope of the probe being conducted by the committee.

He said he would talk to De Lima tomorrow to find out how far she intends to go with Matobato’s testimony.

 “We are going farther and farther away from the topic. If she wants to establish a pattern (between the Davao and current killings), then that would require a separate resolution. That is no longer the same topic,” Pimentel said.

Trillanes, for his part, said that there were clear political considerations in the decision of Pimentel since he and the President are allies.

 “Koko should be the last person to put a stop to this (testimony). In the investigation against former vice president (Jejomar) Binay, we were hearing the same thing, that the issues taken up were no longer connected (to the resolution). But it was because of this that we were able to see the extent of the corruption of VP Binay,” Trillanes said.

Trillanes, Pimentel and Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano spearheaded the probe on Binay in the previous Congress.