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Friday, March 29, 2024

De Lima facing censure

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SENATOR Richard Gordon on Tuesday said Senator Leila de Lima could be censured, suspended or kicked out of the Senate for unparliamentary conduct, after she walked out of a hearing of the Senate justice committee Monday night.

Gordon, who accused De Lima of withholding information from the committee, said any member of the panel could file a complaint against her, but said he would not be the one to do it.

Gordon refused to apologize to De Lima, who demanded an apology after he had accused her of committing “material concealment” in a previous inquiry into the spate of extrajudicial killings in the government’s war on illegal drugs.

“Did I do anything wrong? She should apologize to me because I was liberal with her,” Gordon said, noting that he even allowed senators to give De Lima more time than was allotted to her to question the witnesses.

Gordon accused De Lima of committing material concealment for allegedly withholding information that witness and self-confessed Davao Death Squad hitman Edgar Matobato had been charged in a kidnapping case in 2000.

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De Lima explained that she did not remember if Matobato had mentioned the kidnap-for-ransom case during the hearing so she told them that Matobato may or may not have mentioned it.

Angry reaction. Senator Leila de Lima is indignant while answering  reporters’ questions, a day after she walked out of the 5th Senate inquiry into the government’s anti-drug related killings, taking ‘serious offense’ at accusations she concealed information on a criminal case filed against confessed hitman Edgar Matobato. Ey Acasio

She said that she had the detail in her notes. However, Gordon, chairman of the justice committee, took this as material concealment.

Senator Antonio Trillanes IV, who had protective custody of Matobato, defended De Lima by reading parts of the transcript that proved that Matobato indeed mentioned it twice in his previous testimony.

Gordon also got irked when he called Matobato to testify but was later told that the witness had already left the Senate premises. He said that De Lima and Trillanes seemed to be “hiding something” from them.

While Trillanes admitted that he allowed Matobato’s exit, De Lima said she did not know that the witness had already left.

De Lima noted that it was Trillanes’ judgment to send Matobato off because it was late evening and they needed to extricate Matobato since it was no longer safe, especially while the people he identified as alleged DDS members—former and current Davao City police personnel —were there.

“They should say sorry to the Senate for unparliamentary conduct,” Gordon said, claiming that De Lima and Trillanes tried to hide Matobato to avoid his being tagged as an unreliable witness.

“There’s a long history of trickery in this country. They didn’t want to show Matobato because they were caught lying. He is not believable anymore,” he added.

Gordon said De Lima and Trillanes should first present corroborating evidence that the witnesses were indeed involved in murder.

“Matobato is fooling us. I’m a litigator, I’m a lawyer. I’m not stupid. Maybe they think the rest of the people are stupid, maybe they feel they can fool people all the time but not us, not the Senate,” Gordon said.

“I am already 71 years old, I have no ambitions except to serve my country. I’m not after a headline. Maybe Trillanes is,” he added.

In a separate interview, Trillanes said that Gordon was too “proud” to admit about forgetting that Matobato previously mentioned his kidnap-for-ransom case.

“He [Gordon] should be man enough to admit that he made a mistake. He falsely accused a member of the committee, and now that we show him the truth, he lets his pride take over. His bias shows,” Trillanes said.

Sixteen out of more than 20 police officers from Davao City allegedly linked to the DDS were present at the Senate inquiry into extrajudicial killings on Monday.

The Davao City cops, who were previously members of the city’s Heinous Crimes Division, were tagged by Matobato in a previous hearing as being responsible for unresolved killings in the city.

Senator Panfilo Lacson on Tuesday said he would recommend that Gordon abandon or suspend the hearings on extrajudicial killings after the probe was thrown off track by the testimony of Matobato.

Senators had openly criticized Matobato, who was presented by De Lima, as a lying witness due to inconsistencies on his testimony given to the Senate hearings on two separate occasions.

“We were stuck on Matobato. There were really many inconsistencies and the lies were so glaring,” said Lacson. “We feel that Matobato is just playing with us. It hurts to admit this, but we were really cheated by his testimony.” 

After a caucus Tuesday afternoon, Gordon said they would continue with the hearings next week, but agreed to stop taking testimony on the Davao Death Squad  and to end the testimony of Matobato, whom he described as “damaged goods.”

Gordon added that if a new witness surfaces, hearings on the DDS could be reopened.

In a separate interview, De Lima apologized to the public for her outburst Monday night, but said she would not allow herself to be crucified.

She said she was apologizing to the public, but not to Gordon or to the other senators who had accused her of concealment.

“I’m addressing this apology to the public because I am also waiting an apology from my colleagues. It is hurting and unacceptable to be accused of things which you did not do,” she said.

Before the walkout, De Lima engaged Gordon in a heated argument over the former Justice secretary’s alleged concealment involving Matobato.

Gordon, Lacson and Senator Manny Pacquiao were angered when they learned that Matobato had left the Senate, saying he avoided being confronted about the kidnapping case filed by the NBI.

The three also wanted Matobato to face 16 of the 22 Davao policemen, whom he said were former members of the vigilante group when Duterte was mayor. 

The senators said they felt betrayed and misled by Matobato.

Gordon earlier accused Matobato of hiding his kidnapping case, and later accused De Lima of the same thing.

De Lima initially admitted it was an “oversight” on her part but later on presented transcripts of previous hearings to show Matobato himself disclosed it before the chamber.

Gordon refused to accept the explanation.

“I cannot let that pass. I can speak for lawyers, that concealment is really despicable and even unethical. I have to express my umbrage at this very, very bad situation. We went on a very wild goose chase here because had we known that we would not have called all these people,” Gordon said, referring to the Davao City policemen. 

Lacson then questioned De Lima for skipping the detail. He also lamented how Matobato fooled the senators.

“We were all taken for a ride by Matobato. It’s frustrating, after all, that we are not smarter than a first grader,” he said.

“We are accusing Matobato of fooling this committee and lying through his teeth!” Lacson exclaimed.

Senator Alan Peter Cayetano, the defeated running mate of Duterte, attacked De Lima for bringing a witness that had not been vetted.

“The problem is because Mr. Matobato was allowed here without vetting him, without disclosing that case, BBC, CNN, New York Times and Washington Post put on their front page that the President is a mass murderer,” he said.

Matobato earlier told the Senate hearing that he and other DDS members had abducted Makdum on Samal Island and killed him for being a terrorist.

De Lima tried to pacify the senators as she denied she was hiding any information about Matobato. She said she looked into her notes and found out that Matobato had said he had been charged by the NBI for the Makdum kidnapping.

“It was part of my notes, gathered over a course of several interviews with Matobato in September,” said De Lima.

However, Gordon said De Lima’s failure to mention the case was “material concealment,” noting that it was “very strong piece of vital information.”

Shortly before midnight, the Office of De Lima e-mailed Senate reporters a copy of the portion of the transcript of the Sept. 15 hearing in which Matobato, upon questioning by De Lima, said he would stand by his claim that he killed Makdum. 

Responding to De Lima’s query, Matobato said the NBI charged him with the kidnapping of Makdum. 

Based on the same transcript, Matobato again mentioned the kidnapping case filed against him, a week later.

De Lima also insisted she did not know Matobato had left the Senate and noted he waited all day to be called to the fifth day of the hearing.

She took offense at “insinuations” that she and Trillanes purposely allowed Matobato to leave the Senate as Davao police began their testimony. Gordon said he was ordering Matobato to return to the Senate.

De Lima also hit her fellow senators for already having a conclusion when the hearings were not over.

“We are still establishing the facts but there is a conclusion already that the witness is lying all along. Mr. Matobato has testified on a lot of things,” she said. 

But Lacson accused De Lima and Trillanes of already having a conclusion when they presented Matobato before the Senate.

As Gordon rejected De Lima’s demand for an apology, he told her: “Don’t melt down. You’re melting down.”

Still fuming, De Lima said: “Since no apology is forthcoming, I’m walking out.” She then began gathering her belongings. 

Speaking after De Lima had walked out, Gordon said it was an act of “cowardice” to walk out.

On Tuesday, De Lima said the kidnapping case had already been presented before the panel.

“Since it was disclosed already by Mr. Matobato, where is the concealment on my part? There was no concealment nor was there nothing to conceal because that fact was already disclosed by the witness. Why is it my fault when it’s already on record?” De Lima said.

She blamed Gordon, chairman of the Senate committee on justice and human rights, for not checking the facts from the previous hearings.

She also said she was offended by Gordon’s insistence that she and Trillanes were trying to hide anything from them. With PNA

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