黑料社

MANILA, Philippines 鈥� Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri on Tuesday cautioned his colleagues in the Senate against turning their investigations into a political circus or a witch hunt.

This, as he observed 鈥渧ery serious accusations鈥� made during the hearing of the Senate committee on public order.

The committee headed by former top cop and now Senator Ronald 鈥淏ato鈥� Dela Rosa is investigating an alleged 12-year-old Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) operational documents that supposedly linked President Ferdinand 鈥淏ongbong鈥� Marcos Jr, and actress Maricel Soriano to illegal drugs.

鈥淲hile certain claims were made, documentary evidence is yet to be presented,鈥� Zubiri聽 said in a prepared statement read before the media.

鈥淭here were no pictures, no corroborating testimonies. In other words, this was solely based on the testimony of one person based on what appears to be hearsay evidence,鈥� he said.

The Senate chief also wondered why the drug test of the President was being brought up in the hearing 鈥渆ven though it does not appear to be germane or important to the subject of the motu proprio investigation.鈥�

鈥淲e respect the committees鈥� right to perform oversight functions, in aid of legislation. However, we just like to remind our colleagues to be very careful聽 not to use the hearings in aid of political persecution,鈥澛� Zubiri stressed.

He clarified that his warning is directed to all committees of the Senate, and not just to the聽 public order panel.

鈥淎lam ko magkakaroon ng committee hearing dito sa gentlemen鈥檚 agreement. Ganun din ang caution ko sa chairperson at members of the Senate is let鈥檚聽 try聽 to avoid making these聽 hearings into a political circus or for political witch hunts,鈥� Zubiri said.

The Senate committee on foreign affairs聽 is set to probe the reported聽 gentlemen鈥檚 agreement between China and then President Rodrigo Duterte on the West Philippine聽 issue

Senator Francis 鈥淐hiz鈥� Escudero, meanwhile,聽 raised the possible need for a separate聽 investigation聽 if Dela Rosa鈥檚 panel would dwell聽 on the contents of the alleged leaked聽 PDEA documents.

Escudero noted that initially, the committee was supposed to investigate the recent drug haul in Batangas and the PDEA leaks.

鈥溾��Ang issue聽 ng natin ay yung Batangas at yung PDEA leaks, hindi聽 yung sinasabi sa leak mismo,鈥澛� Escudero said during the hearing.

(The issue at hand is about Batangas and the PDEA leaks, not what is being said in the leak itself.)

鈥淧wedeng puntahan yun pero subject matter na po marahil yun sa isa pong pandinig na nakasentro na lamang dun sabagay na yun,鈥� he added.

(We can touch on that matter but perhaps it鈥檚 already the subject matter of a hearing focused solely on that.)

In the meantime, Escudero said the probe should focus on the source of the leaked documents if Dela Rosa himself believes that the leaked documents were聽 indeed聽 authentic.

He also reminded the committee that the sworn testimony of witnesses or resource persons聽 in the hearing should only be limited to personal knowledge.

Otherwise, he said,聽 the聽 investigation could聽 run until end of the year if all names聽 of the persons mentioned聽 by a witness would be called to the聽 hearing.

Senator Grace Poe likewise cautioned the panel after聽 her office聽 has been warned about the character of former PDEA investigation agent Jonathan Morales, who reportedly signed the leaked documents.

She mentioned a聽 number of cases that were allegedly聽 filed against Morales.

鈥淗indi naman natin sinasabi that it should jeopardize聽 your testimony. I鈥檓 just telling you聽 that聽 we really have to go through聽 that with a fine-tooth comb, the allegations that are being brought forth our committees,鈥� Poe said.

Note: The English translations of quotes in this article have been generated with the aid of AI聽