On the request of Senator Antonio Trillanes IV, Senator Leila de Lima declared Senator Allan Peter Cayetano out of order during the continuation of the Senate hearings on the extrajudicial killings in Davao City.
“You are out of order. May we request the sergeant-at-arms to try to restrain Senator Alan Peter Cayetano?” De Lima announced. Cayetano’s microphone was then turned off.
Earlier, Trillanes had tried to turn off Cayetano’s microphone after the latter had bombarded a witness, Edgar Matobato, with questions for a long time even if Cayetano was not part of the committee on justice and human rights chaired by De Lima.
“Senator Cayetano has been asking questions for an hour and that is long for a non-member. I would ask that [Senator Cayetano be] cited out of order,” Trillanes said.
For his part, Cayetano claimed, “That’s my right (to question the witness) because I am testing if he is a credible witness or this is part of LP’s Plan B.” Senator Alan Peter Cayetano is known as a close ally of President Rodrigo Duterte and in fact was Duterte’s vice-presidential candidate during the recent 2016 elections.
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“Tinesting ko kung drawing lang or imbento at dinala ka dito para pabagsakin ang administrasyong ito,” Cayetano told Matobato (I’m testing if you’re a fake or an invention of those who want to put down this administration).
The senator also hinted how Vice President Leni Robredo, a member of the opposition Liberal Party, would benefit in case Duterte is ousted from Malacanang in an impeachment.
Cayetano further grilled the witness about other things he probably knew: “Hindi mo alam na Liberal Party si Senator de Lima? Si dating Senate President (Franklin) Drilon, ‘di mo alam na Liberal Party?” Cayetano questioned. (You don’t know that Senator de Lima is with the Liberal Party? And former Senate President Franklin Drilon, you don’t know him to be with the Liberal Party?)
However, Matobato kept quiet, insisting he was not involved in politics.
After the long barrage of questioning the witness—which Trillanes called “unli-questioning,” De Lima declared Cayetano out of order.
“I’m not gonna further allow that… You are imputing bad faith and ill motive on the part of the standing committee, on the part of the chair, on behalf of the witness who volunteered to tell what he knows,” De Lima finally told Cayetano.
A voluntary witness, Matobato claimed he was once part of the dreaded Davao Death Squad or DDS alleged to be the summary killing squad of Duterte when he was still mayor of Davao City. He implicated Duterte as the one who ordered him to kill criminals summarily amd bomb public places.
Sources: (gmanetwork.com)
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