Blue Ribbon Committee is one of the most powerful committee in the senate, for it holds most of the investigation. Sen. Dick Gordon is the current chairman of this committee and every time they conduct an investigation, Sen. Trillanes doesn't seem to favor the ruling of the chairman and now he wanted to push for the replacement of Sen. Gordon.
Here is some of his reason for doing it.
Trillanes said that Gordon is to be blamed for the
resurgence of so-called extrajudicial killings (EJKs) nationwide as part
of the Duterte administration’s war on illegal drugs.
In an interview over dwIZ yesterday, Trillanes said that the
Gordon-led Senate inquiry into the alleged EJKs could have put an end
to the killings had he acknowledged that this was happening.
“This issue was already raised last year but he gave the
conclusion that there were no EJKs or no state-sponsored EJKs,”
Trillanes said.
He recalled how several witnesses of the Commission on Human
Rights lined up for the hearing to narrate their respective experiences
about the war on drugs were not allowed to speak by Gordon.
“Gordon cannot claim innocence here. The blood is on his hands,” Trillanes said.
He also criticized the way Gordon has been conducting the
hearings of the Blue Ribbon committee wherein he monopolizes the
discussion and redirects the issue whenever it starts to lead towards
President Duterte and his allies.
He recalled how in the ongoing probe into the P6.4-billion
shabu smuggling from China, the so-called Davao group and the
President’s son, Davao City Vice Mayor Paolo Duterte, were mentioned as
influence peddlers within the Bureau of Customs but Gordon supposedly
started lawyering for the younger Duterte.
“This Tuesday, I will call for the replacement of Gordon as
Blue Ribbon committee chairman,” he added. The inquiry into the shabu
shipment will resume on Tuesday.
If he fails in his bid to replace Gordon, Trillanes said
that another committee should take over the probe or a subcommittee
could be created to continue it in order to ensure that it would be
fair.
“Based on my own assessment of my colleagues, they are also
sick and tired of the way he is conducting the investigation,” Trillanes
said.
Sought for comment on Trillanes’ statement, Gordon said, “He can try. I don’t own it.”
Gordon clarified that he never said there was no EJKs in the country in the committee report he prepared after the hearings.
He said that the conclusion was that there was no sufficient
evidence to support the allegations that the killings were
state-sponsored.
Gordon reiterated that he has been on the case of the PNP
since the killings were recorded, telling them to follow the rule of law
and due process and for the Internal Affairs Service to do its job and
investigate the cases immediately.
As far as the inquiry into the drug shipment is concerned,
Gordon said that he is not about to conclude it because there is a lot
more ground to cover.
He cited the report of another 890 kilograms of drugs that
came into the country and was also stored in the warehouse owned by
Chinese businessman Richard Chen, just like the P6.4 billion worth of
shabu from China.
Gordon also called on the Bureau of Internal Revenue to
conduct a lifestyle check on Chinese businessman Kenneth Dong, who is
allegedly the middleman of Chen in the shipment from China.
He questioned how Dong, at so young an age, was able to own a big nightclub in Cebu, as well as several vehicles.
Gordon said there were reports that Dong was using the
nightclub for distributing illegal drugs, which he said should also be
investigated.
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