.

Philippines (UPDATED) – Voting 16-4, senators ousted neophyte Senator Leila de Lima as chairperson of the committee on justice and human rights.

De Lima’s ouster came after she presented in a hearing on Thursday, September 15, Edgar Matobato, a self-confessed hitman of the Davao Death Squad, who accused President Rodrigo Duterte of ordering killings when he was still mayor.

Her party mates at the Liberal Party (LP) stood by De Lima: Senate President Pro-Tempore Franklin Drilon, senators Risa Hontiveros, Francis Pangilinan, and Paolo Benigno Aquino IV.

Two senators abstained: Minority Leader Ralph Recto and Senator Antonio Trillanes IV.

Senator Joel Villanueva, who also ran under the LP banner slate in the 2016 polls, voted against De Lima, who, as justice chief, filed a complaint against him over the alleged misuse of the pork barrel funds.

Committee declared vacant

An hour before the voting, Senator Alan Peter Cayetano – President Rodrigo Duterte’s running mate in 2016 elections – expressed intention to start his privilege speech. But Drilon, De Lima’s party mate, stood up as well and moved that the session be suspended.

With both Cayetano and Drilon insisting on their respective motions, Senate President Aquilino Pimentel III put the matter to a vote. Majority of the senators allowed Cayetano to continue speaking.

Cayetano, in his privilege speech, blamed De Lima and her allies for “misleading” international media on the real status of the extrajudicial killings in the country.

“We might all lose these wars, but the biggest loser will not be Duterte. It will be the economy, the political institutions, and the entire nation. So why sit by and just watch? Why allow our institutions to be used that way?” he lamented.

“There are 24 senators here. There are 30 committees. Senator De Lima is a very talented senator, a very experienced lawyer, an efficient public servant, she can handle so many other committees, Mr President,” Cayetano said.

Neophyte Senator Emmanuel Pacquiao, a party mate of the President, then took the floor and moved that the chamber declare the committee on justice and human rights vacant.

LP stands by De Lima

After the voting, Drilon and Hontiveros took turns on the floor to put on record their opposition to the ouster of De Lima.

Recto, meanwhile, manifested that they deemed it best to leave the decision to the majority, as that is not the issue of the minority bloc.

The 16 senators who voted against De Lima are:

New committee chair

The justice and human rights panel is now headed by Gordon, with Lacson as vice chair.

Committee members include Duterte’s allies Pacquiao, Zubiri, and Cayetano, as well as Poe, Pangilinan, and De Lima.

In his acceptance speech, Gordon said he is “honored” to have been chosen to head the panel. He claimed he did not "lobby" for the position,

Gordon earlier proposed that Congress allows President Duterte to suspend the writ of habeas corpus to fight illegal drugs and terrorism in the country.

De Lima and Duterte have long been at odds over the issue of human rights – while he was Davao City mayor, and she was chairperson of the Commission on Human Rights and then secretary of the Department of Justice.

The lady senator got the ire of Duterte anew for launching a probe into the spate of summary executions related to his administration’s anti-drug campaign.

She is also facing an ethics complaint for her alleged immoral acts and links to illegal drugs inside the national penitentiary.

On Tuesday, September 20, the House of Representatives is set to hold a probe into her alleged role in the proliferation of drugs inside the national penitentiary during her time as justice secretary. The DOJ, now headed by Secretary Aguirre, is set to file criminal charges against De Lima, alleging she received drug money for her senatorial campaign reportedly through her driver-bodyguard. 

Para sa aking dating kasama sa senado na si SEN. Antonio Trillanes,

Napanood ko ang hearing sa senado tungkol sa extra judicial killings mula dito sa aking kinalalagyan.
Pinagmamasdan ko din ang mga kilos ng bawat senador.
Laking gulat ko ng bigla mong patayin ang mikropono at sabihan mo ang iyong kapwa senador na 'hindi kita papapormahin dito'.
Ganito na ba ngayon ang kalakaran sa Senado? Para yata malaki na ang pagkakaiba simula nung kami (graduating senators) ay lumisan sa senado.
Kung natatandaan mo Sonny, meron tayong respetohan bilang mga kapwa senador. In fact, meron tayong Rules na kailangan natin sundin bilang mga ginagalang na mambabatas.
Kahit gaano mo kagalit ang iyong kasamahan sa senado, you should have been civil to him while inside the halls of the senate.
I had my unforgettable experiences in the senate. Remember when my colleagues, including you, investigated the PDAF scam? We were already guilty when the chairman, then Sen. Guingona including Sen. Alan Cayetano gave comments left and right to make it appear that the 3 senators were scoundrels in the government.
Ngunit ano ang ginawa ko? Diba idinaan ko na lang sa privilege speech ang mga hinaing ko? I never ever approached a colleague and say straight to his face na 'hindi kita papopormahin dito' or words to that effect.
Sen. Trillanes, i hope you know the true meaning of RESPECT!! Ganyan ka na ba kayabang ngayon? Ikaw na ba ang may hawak sa Senado?
I am not defending Sen. Alan. But who are you to say that to a colleague of yours? Pare-pareho naman kayong mga senador diba? Pare-pareho naman kayong hinalal ng taong bayan diba?
You are NOT superior among your colleagues!!
Sayang wala na ako diyan, dahil kung ako ang pinagsabihan mo ng ganyan, hindi kita sasantuhin!!

The lawyer and spokesperson of the King family in Cebu expressed disbelief about the claim of confessed Davao Death Squad (DDS) hitman that Davao City Vice Mayor Paolo Duterte was the mastermind in the slay of Cebuano businessman Richard King in 2014.

Lawyer Deolito Alvarez said he was not convinced with the statements of Edgar Matobato who testified during the Senate’s public hearing on the continued rise of extrajudicial killings and summary executions.

“Absolutely false. I am convinced that the accused who are facing the charge in court are the perpetrators and the statements of the gunman, the lookout and driver of the getaway vehicle pointing to the accused mastermind are true,” he said in a text message to CEBU DAILY NEWS.

“The statement of witness Matobato in trying to cast cloud and put politics into the equation is not true,” he added.

Edward Tan, the spokesperson of the King family, said he, too, could not believe Matobato’s revelations.

“His statements are wrong. For one, he said Richard was killed inside a McDonalds outlet. That’s wrong. Richard was killed at the Vital C Building,” he told Cdn over the phone yesterday.

“That means, he (Matobato) is not a credible witness. I believe his testimonies were politically motivated. What he said was impossible,” he added.

Vice Mayor Duterte, the President’s son, also brushed off the claim as a lie made by a “madman.”

“What (Senator Leila) de Lima and this certain Matobato say in public are bare allegations in the absence of proof. They are mere hearsay. I will not dignify with an answer the accusations of a madman,” he said in a statement posted on the Facebook page of the Davao City government.

In his testimony, Matobato said Paolo Duterte ordered the killing of King because of a rivalry over a woman, a franchisee of McDonald’s fastfood restaurant in Davao City he identified only as “Chua.”

Matobato was apparently referring to Helen Sy Chua, a business partner of King, who was earlier called for questioning involving the murder of the businessman, along with her son Wilbert Chua.

The mother and son both died last year — Helen due to a brain cancer and Wilbert by unknown assailants.

The mother and son went to he National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) in Manila a month after the slaying to clear their name, with Helen saying that she had no motive to harm King because apart from the fact that they were business partners for years in the health products firm Vital C Health, “they were friends and classmates since kindergarten,” according to an Inquirer report on July 29, 2014.

Alvarez said Helen Chua was never implicated in the murder of King.

Wilbert Chua, then supplier of hollow blocks for King’s resort project on Boracay Island, also denied any involvement in the crime.

Barely a year later, however, Wilbert, then 33 years old, was shot dead by unknown gunmen in Davao City on March 12, 2015. His death remained unsolved up to this time.

Matobato, on the other hand, claimed that he and two companions, who were rebel returnees, were paid P500,000 to kill King.

King, who owned real estate and hotel businesses in Cebu and other parts of the country, was shot dead inside his office at the Vital C Building in Barrio Obrero, Davao City on June 12, 2014. He was 56.

Authorities later arrested Paul Dave Molina Labang, the confessed shooter, and brothers Rommel and Rodel de la Cerna, who served as lookouts.

The three men pointed to Senior Supt. Leonardo Felonia, then chief of the regional police intelligence unit in Southern Mindanao, as mastermind.

Felonia denied the accusations. A consolidated report by the Special Investigation Task Group (SITG) stated that the Davao police had spoken with several private individuals about a “squabble” between King and the son of a business partner over mismanagement of the Crown Regency Resorts on Boracay Island in Aklan.

The suspect was heard arguing with King and making a verbal death threat: “Swerte lang ka kay wala ka sa Davao, kay kung naa lang ka sa Davao, gipatay ta na ka (You’re fortunate you are not in Davao or else I would have killed you).”

The case concerning Richard’s slay remains pending before the trial court in Davao City.

Last July, President Duterte, in a news conference in Malacañang, said King was involved in illegal drugs trade. He alluded to King as one of the “connections” of Herbert Colangco, a big-time drug personality, who is detained at the New Bilibid Prison (NBP).

Duterte was quoted as saying, “I’m sorry now to say to the public and to his (King) family who is now in Cebu that after all, your family or son was involved in the drug front.”
King’s family cried foul over the insinuations.

Alvarez, the family’s lawyer since 2002, said they had no plans to go after or sue President Duterte but would cooperate in any investigation that may be conducted.

King, who has two children, was the owner of Crown Regency Hotel and Towers in Cebu City, the chairman of Vital-C Land Development Corporation, the CEO of J. King and Sons, the president of Fuente Triangle Realty Development Corp., and the founder and director of Boracay Multiple Properties Developers Inc.

King’s brother Rafael took over his business entities after his death.