QUEZON City, Philippines (September 21) – Sen. Leila De Lima has been replaced by Sen. Richard “Dick” Gordon as the chairman of the Senate Committee on Justice and Human Rights. The motion was moved by Sen. Manny Pacquio yesterday following the privilege speech of Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano regarding how De Lima is destroying the country by leading the investigation on extrajudicial killings which is directly linking President Duterte’s war on drugs. The motion garnered 16 affirmative votes, four negative and two abstainers.
It has been just three months since the Duterte administration, but we cannot deny the fact that the president’s campaign against drugs is evidently effective. The daily news will show that the reforms and programs that are being implemented by the government to fight drugs are efficient enough to help eradicate drug-related operations in the country. The arrested individuals, who are allegedly committing drug-related activities, are just living proof of how successful the anti-drug campaign of the president is.
On the other hand, the rampant killings of suspected drug pushers and dealers around the metro seem to stain the campaign of the President. The Commission on Human Rights expressed how disappointed they are with these inhumane killings, emphasizing the right to due process of the law of the killed ones.
For the past few weeks, Senator De Lima and President Duterte shared their differing views on the issues; the conflicting stand of each government official has been established. Sen. De Lima, being the chairman of the Senate Committee on Justice and Human Rights and with the issue being investigated, it is safe to say that the objectivity of the senator might be marred. She even presented a witness in one of the committee hearing in the persona of Edgar Matobato, who claims to be a former member of the Davao Death Squad.
The allies of the President present on the said hearing find it inaccurate for the chairman of the committee herself, to present a witness who is against the President. It might be the main reason for Senator Pacquiao to initiate the motion to declare vacant the chairman of the committee post and for Senator Tito Sotto to nominate Senator Gordon to be the new chairman of the Senate Committee of Justice and Human Rights.
The replacement of Senator Leila De Lima as the chairman of the Senate Committee on Justice and Human Rights may be considered as a smart move by the Senate. The committee is currently investigating an issue that directly concerns the President, bearing in the mind the fact that Senator De Lima is under the Liberal Party and infamous for her anti-Duterte stance, it is logical to think that her judgment on the ongoing investigation might not be fair.
It is fair enough for the committee to think of their unit as a whole. Each member of the said committee is responsible for what will be the outcome of their current investigation. With that being said, I believe that the senators who voted yes for Sen. De Lima’s replacement are just aiming for fairness. Fairness that can only be obtained if there are no pre-existing beliefs by the any member of the committee – whether it is the chairman of just a member – towards the issue being investigated.
(written by Aronica Azores, edited by Jay Paul Carlos, additional research by Vince Alvin Villarin)
