MANILA, Philippines — Facing criticisms of allowing former president Rodrigo Duterte to overtake the Senate’s investgation into the bloody drug war, Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel III said that they were no longer friends. 

Pimentel is heading the Senate’s Blue Ribbon subcommittee investigating the drug war, but the former president took his familiar style of jokes and swearing into the Senate’s halls. Some believe that Pimentel let Duterte ramble on. 

“I’m no longer Digong’s supporter now, so we have our political differences. We do not communicate. We are not close, and he has absolutely zero influence over me, especially on the way I think,” Pimentel said in a mix of English and Filipino on ANC’s Headstart on Monday. 

Pimentel used to be Duterte’s ally, having been from the same political party, PDP-Laban. 

However, the PDP-Laban has since been fractured due to diverging beliefs over Duterte’s handling of the West Philippine Sea among other issues. 

The minority senator said that when he writes the committee report, their past alliance has no influence on him and that he will simply look at the evidence.

During Duterte’s appearance at the Senate, the former president would often go on long narratives, even if they are not directly addressing the question. He would also fall into rants and curses, which even Senate President Francis Escudero expressed disapproval of. 

Pimentel said he was only supposed to let Duterte swear once.

“I got desensitized about the cursing,” Pimentel admitted. 

Pimentel, however, believes that by Duterte to keep on speaking on, he was able to reveal more details on his involvement in potential criminal cases. 

Some of Duterte’s bombshell revelations in the Senate hearing included his admission that there were death squads, and that he instructed police to provoke suspects into fighting back to justify killing them. 

But Duterte alone is not the source of knowledge, Pimentel said. What Duterte said must still be investigated. 

Pimentel also acknowledged that Duterte’s allies overwhelmed those in the Senate who were not allies. 

Sens. Bong Go and Bato dela Rosa played both interrogator and witness in the Senate probe last October 28.  

In the House of Represesentative’s probe into the drug wardoubleu casino, both Dela Rosa and Go were directly tagged in the execution of the drug war where police were allegedly rewarded for their kills. Dela Rosa was Duterte’s national police chief and Go was the special assistant to the president.

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