MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Richard Gordon said on Thursday he is not convinced of the need to hold investigations into police's "pay per kill operations," dismissing these as "mere hearsay."
This is despite a report by an international human rights watchdog Amnesty International whose findings cite instances of killings of drug suspects involving police officers, who either commit the crime themselves or through paid hitmen.
"Since President Duterte took office, the paid killers said the demand for their work is 'rampant,' averaging three to four 'orders' per week," the report read.
READ: Amnesty: Paid killers, cops behind some drug-related deaths
While Gordon, the Senate justice committee chairperson, admitted that the recurring extrajudicial killings are not only worrisome, "they have become disquieting," he also said the hearing cannot be based on rumors that police anti-drug operations have led to extrajudicial killings.
"The (Amnesty) report, on this score, does not yet rise above hearsay," Gordon said.
Gordon claimed, however, that once someone comes to him with a testimonial or solid evidence, he will be the first to say, "a hearing must be conducted."
In September last year, the senator presided over the Senate justice and human rights panel's inquiry into President Rodrigo Duterte's war on drugs. Self-confessed hitman Edgar Matobato recounted his experience as part of the so-called Davao Death Squad targeting criminals and political enemies in Duterte's bailiwick.
Gordon dismissed Matobato as a "damaged witness" and his testimony as inconsistent with "no probative value."
Reports from various news agencies have also cited accounts of killings linked to the police as well as interviews with hired guns.
Sen. Francis Escudero said at a press conference on Thursday that the Senate should call for an executive session to hear the testimonies presented in the Amnesty report.
He also said that representatives from Amnesty International should come forward to prove the truthfulness of the report.
"Nais kong malamang kung totoo 'yun. Kung totoo 'yun, kakampihan ko sila. Kung hindi, dapat kailangan naman magpreno-preno sila dahil hindi naman ganoon kadali din buwagin o sirain ang imahe ng isang bansa," Escudero said.