Senate probe sought into hostage-taking of Leila De Lima
MANILA, Philippines (Updated 3:22 p.m.) — Sen. Jinggoy Estrada is seeking a Senate probe into the hostage-taking of former Sen. Leila de Lima at the Philippine National Police Custodial Center in Camp Crame, which the lawmaker says “brought to the fore security lapses” on the part of the police.
“The incident … nonetheless reflects poorly on the police organization’s capacity to perform their mandate of preventing crimes, enforcing laws, maintaining public order and ensuring public safety,” Estrada said in Senate Resolution No. 258 filed Wednesday.
He added: “The police organization should inspire confidence through the institutionalization of strict security protocols in PNP detention facilities, adequate training and capacity-building of its officers and personnel, and human treatment of persons under police custody, being respectful of their religious beliefs and cultural practices.”
In a separate resolution filed Thursday, the Senate minority bloc urged the PNP leadership to undertake measures to guarantee the safety of De Lima.
Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel III and Sen. Risa Hontiveros also want the PNP to inform the Senate on the actions taken to secure the former senator.
In his resolution, Estrada noted a portion of De Lima’s affidavit where she said that her hostage-taker complained about their treatment at the detention facility as he alleged that they are “treated like animals” and that “the food has pork.”
De Lima’s hostage-taker, Feliciano Sulayao Jr., was among three detainees at the custodial center who tried to break out last Sunday. Sulayao, Arnel Cabintoy and Idang Susukan, who were all shot dead by police, were allegedly members of the Abu Sayyaf Group and Dawlah Islamiya.
READ: Hostage-taking just latest hardship for De Lima since 2017 arrest, allies say
Sen. Robinhood Padilla visited De Lima on Wednesday at the PNP General Hospital in Camp Crame to reassure her that criminality and terrorism are not part of Islamic teaching.
“I wanted to stress that whatever these Abu Sayyaf members did wrong, that was not the teaching of Islam,” Padilla said in a statement.
He added that he discussed the possibility of a home furlough for De Lima, but PGen. Rodolfo Azurin, PNP chief, said the former senator chose to stay in Camp Crame.
PCol. Mark Pespes, acting director of the PNP Headquarters Support Service, previously said that they were still trying to understand how Sulayao was able to enter the room of De Lima, who was supposedly held separately from other detainees at the custodial center.
WHAT WE KNOW SO FAR: Leila de Lima hostage-taking
Asked about Sulayao's complaints before his death, Pespes denied this but asked reporters to wait for the findings of the investigation.
Azurin also said that guards distributing food to the detainees in the outdoor area had already established rapport with them at that time, which might have been taken advantage of.
He added that the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group will investigate the incident to check if there were lapses that led to the hostage-taking. — with a report from Franco Luna
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