ONE NATION UNDER GOD: We are not butchers

READ: De Lima: Expect more witnesses to drug-related killings.

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<b><i>HEARINGS RESUME. Senator Leila de Lima, chairperson of the Senate committee on justice and human rights, says more witnesses have been called to testify on representative cases of drug-related extrajudicial killings on September 15, 2016. Photo from the August 22 hearing by LeAnne Jazul/Rappler</i></b></div>
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<span style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5;">MANILA, Philippines – Senator Leila de Lima, who chairs the committee on justice and human rights said more witnesses will be presented when the hearing on drug-related killings resumes on Thursday morning, September 15.</span></div>
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<span style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5;">“After 3 weeks since the committee started its inquiry, we have yet to hear the testimonies of other witnesses who can provide not only the clearer and broader picture behind these killings but also any loopholes in enforcing our laws,” De Lima said in a statement on Wednesday.</span></div>
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<span style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5;">The committee conducted hearings on August 22 and 23, and agreed to the request of Senator Alan Cayetano to suspend the investigation until after the ASEAN Summit in Laos, so as not to embarass President Rodrigo Duterte</span></div>
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<span style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5;">The senator said the justice committee, jointly with the committee on public order and dangerous drugs, will “present more witnesses” as they continue to look into “representative cases” of extrajudicial killings and summary executions that have been on the rise since the Duterte administration started its all-out campaign against illegal drugs.</span></div>
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<span style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5;">At least 9 witnesses are expected to testify on 8 cases, where 11 victims are involved, De Lima said.</span></div>
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<span style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5;">“We have also invited other resource persons from the government sector, civil society groups and human rights advocates, as well as from the media. We hope to get their views and insights on this issue,” she added.</span></div>
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<em style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; font-weight: 700; margin-top: 50px;">Stories from the August 22 and 23 hearings:</span><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><a href="http://todaysupdateph.blogspot.com/2016/09/read-lacson-contradicts-de-lima-on-need.html" target="_blank">Lacson contradicts De Lima on need for Senate probe</a><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><a href="http://todaysupdateph.blogspot.com/2016/09/watch-drilon-asks-bato-in-disbelief-137.html" target="_blank">Drilon asks Bato in disbelief: 137 deaths in just a day?</a><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><a href="http://todaysupdateph.blogspot.com/2016/09/read-intl-court-may-probe-drug-related.html" target="_blank">Int'l court may probe drug-related killings in PH – CHR</a><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><a href="http://todaysupdateph.blogspot.com/2016/09/look-dela-rosa-to-senate-we-are-not.html" target="_blank">Dela Rosa to Senate: We are not butchers</a><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><a href="http://todaysupdateph.blogspot.com/2016/09/look-cayetano-biased-de-lima-should.html" target="_blank">Cayetano: 'Biased' De Lima should inhibit from Senate probe</a></span></em></div>
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<span style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5;">The senator – criticized by no less than President Duterte for her alleged links to the drug trade – emphasized once more that her investigation is not meant to derail police operations.</span></div>
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<span style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5;">“The Senate inquiry presumes at all times the regularity of police operations. We are here to find ways to help law enforcement agencies fulfill their mandate more efficiently through legislative action” and “without violating any human rights or disregarding the due process of the law,” she said.</span></div>
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<span style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5;">Also called to testify are the heads and representatives of the following:</span></div>
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<li style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5;">Philippine National Police</span></li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5;">Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency</span></li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5;">Department of the Interior and Local Government,</span></li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5;">National Bureau of Investigation</span></li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5;">Commission on Human Rights</span></li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5;">Philippine Human Rights Information Center</span></li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5;">Philippine Alliance of Human Rights Advocates</span></li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5;">Karapatan</span></li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5;">Free Legal Assistance Group</span></li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5;">Philippine Institute of Human Rights</span></li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5;">Ateneo Human Rights Centers</span></li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5;">Private media organizations</span></li>
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<span style="color: #4c4c4c; font-family: "roboto" , "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 17px; line-height: 25.5px;">SOURCE: <a href="http://www.rappler.com/nation/146250-more-witnesses-senate-hearing-drug-killings" target="_blank">RAPPLER</a></span></span></div>

READ: De Lima: Expect more witnesses to drug-related killings.

At least 9 witnesses are expected to testify on 8 cases, involving 11 victims, when the justice committee chaired by Senator Leila de Lima r...

LOOK: Cayetano: 'Biased' De Lima should inhibit from Senate probe.

7:56:00 AM TodaysUpdatePH 0

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<b><i>INHIBIT. Senator Alan Peter Cayetano wants Senator Leila De Lima to inhibit from her own probe into the extrajudicial killings but the neophyte lawmaker refuses to do so. Photos by LeAnne Jazul/Rappler</i></b></div>
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<span style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5;">MANILA, Philippines – Senator Alan Peter Cayetano, President Rodrigo Duterte’s staunchest ally in the Senate, comes to the rescue again, as he asked Senator Leila De Lima to inhibit from her own probe into extrajudicial killings under the Duterte administration.</span></div>
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<em style="box-sizing: border-box;">“</em>I am thinking of drafting a letter asking Senator De Lima to inhibit herself from the hearing<em style="box-sizing: border-box;"> kasi may prejudgment na siya </em>(because she already has prejudgment).<em style="box-sizing: border-box;"> Makikita mo sa kanya lahat ng pinatay summary killing na o extrajudicial killing na </em>(You will see that all those killed are already summary killings or extrajudicial killings),” Cayetano said on Wednesday, August 24, adding he would send the letter not later than Monday,</div>
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Cayetano called out De Lima for being “biased” in her conduct of the Senate inquiry.</div>
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<em style="box-sizing: border-box;">“Ang question ko nga 24 senators tayo, why not allow someone who is less polluted, less biased to do the investigation? Ang sinasabi ko naman hindi dapat ang chairman biased,”</em> he told reporters.</div>
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(My question is: We are 24 senators why not allow someone who is less polluted, less biased to do the investigation? What I'm saying is the chairman should not be biased.)</div>
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De Lima is the chairperson of the Senate committee on justice and human rights, which is leading the investigation into the spate of drug-related killings in the country. She also filed the resolution that prompted the inquiry.</div>
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“You can inhibit anytime, I just want to bring it to her attention that she has two options – <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">maging fair sa hearing or mag-inhibit </em>(be fair in the hearings or inhibit)<em style="box-sizing: border-box;">,</em>” he said.</div>
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Cayetano also accused De Lima and Commission on Human Rights Chairman Jose Luis Martin Gascon of “destroying” the country’s image in the international community, with their loose usage of the term "extrajudicial killings." </div>
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<em style="box-sizing: border-box;">“Imbis na tumutulong si Senator De Lima at Chairman Gascon sa image ng bansa, sila ang sumisira sa image ng ating bansa. Kasama sa paglilinis ng pulis ng ating Pangulo ang ikulong ang pulis na 'di sumusunod sa batas,”</em> he claimed.</div>
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(Instead of Senator De Lima and Chairman Gascon helping the country's image, they are destroying it. The President's cleansing of the police ranks include jailing those who violate the law.)</div>
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Cayetano said De Lima and Gascon are making it appear that the deaths are “state-sponsored” – which he strongly denied.</div>
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“It’s different between naming it a murder/homicide from naming it summary killing and extrajudicial killing. What's the difference? The difference is, <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">abroad 'di ba sini-stir up 'yung community to make it appear that guilty of international crime ang Pangulo</em> (The difference is the international community is being stirred up to make it appear that the President is guilty of an international crime),” he added.</div>
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Duterte, as early as the 2016 campaign period, said his anti-drug campaign would be “bloody.”</div>
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<span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; font-weight: 700; margin-top: 50px;">De Lima: 'Why should I?'</span></div>
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De Lima, however, remained unfazed and said she’d rather that the people judge her objectivity in the conduct of the hearing.</div>
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“Why should I? I’m not going to base that on the opinion of someone who has evidently been the defender and the apologist of the President in the Senate,” De Lima told reporters.</div>
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She denied being biased, as she maintained the Senate probe is not a legal court but only a fact-finding investigation.</div>
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“This is not a court of law. This is a fact-finding inquiry. So what bias is he talking about? I'm just trying to determine facts through witnesses," she said.</div>
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De Lima said between the two of them, the one who is clearly biased is Cayetano.</div>
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<em style="box-sizing: border-box;">“Sino ba biased sa amin? Siya nga very biased in favor of the administration and extrajudicial killings from day one of the hearing. And besides, klarado naman 'yan. He's a lawyer. He knows that, that inhibition is addressed to the personal discretion of the person being sought to inhibit,” </em>she said.</div>
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(Who's biased between the two of us? He's the one very biased in favor of the administration and extrajudicial killings from day one of the hearing. Besides, it's clear. He's a lawyer. He knows that, that inhibition is addressed to the personal discretion of the person being sought to inhibit.)</div>
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SOURCE: <a href="http://www.rappler.com/nation/144067-alan-cayetano-de-lima-inhibit-senate-probe" target="_blank">RAPPLER</a></div>