Due process to prevail under a Binay presidency

by Ellson Quismorio

Dipolog City, Misamis Occidental – Vice President Jejomar Binay yesterday said that should he win in the May 9, 2016, presidential elections, he will establish an Independent Commission that will investigate the summary executions and human rights violations of the Davao Death Squad, including cases that have links to Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte.

Both Binay and Duterte are running for president under the United Nationalist Alliance (UNA) and PDP-Laban, respectively.

“Kapag ako ang naging pangulo, bilang manananggol, nasisiguro ko na maparusahan ang Davao Death Squad, kasama na si Mister Duterte na ilang beses nang umamin na siya ang Davao Death Squad (If I become the president, as a lawyer, I guarantee that the Davao Death Squad will be punished, along with Mister Duterte who has repeatedly admitted that he is the Davao Death Squad),” Binay said during an impromptu press conference here Thursday afternoon. The creation of the Independent Commission will enable the suspects to air their side as part of due process.

The Davao Death Squad or DDS is the supposed vigilante group that does Duterte’s bidding as mayor.

According to Binay, Duterte’s various admissions of his killing before the media can be used as evidence against him.

The tough-talking mayor once bragged in a TV interview that he has killed 1,700 people.

On Wednesday, Binay seemed non-committal at personally making Duterte  answer for his alleged extra-judicial killings in the event he becomes chief executive.

“Will I jail Duterte for murder? Maybe, other people will act on that. By that time the fear for Duterte will be gone and people will speak up against him,” he said.

But Binay apparently changed his mind after the Duterte camp hinted that the UNA standard-bearer might be the first “big fish” to land in jail under a Duterte presidency because of corruption charges.

Earlier Thursday, newspapers quoted Senator Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III of the PDP-Laban saying that Binay would be the first big-time offender to taste the insides of a dentition cell under Duterte’s administration.

Just mere allegations

“What would cause my imprisonment, the allegations against me? Allegations, allegations, allegations, there are no truth to those,” Binay said as he scoffed at the senator’s statement.

Binay, 73, was has been swamped with various allegations of corruption, which he reportedly carried out during this two-decade long tenure as Makati City mayor.

The Vice President couldn’t help but twit Pimentel for making the statement.

“Senator Pimentel talks as if he isn’t a bar topnotcher, for him to say that I’ll get jailed. My goodness, there’s still a process, sir.”

Reminded that Pimentel and Duterte are party-mates, Binay said of the senator, “That’s probably the reason he’s talking that way.”

Meanwhile, Binay accused Duterte’s fans of behaving like their idol after receiving complaints of netizens.

According to Binay, there have been numerous complaints from netizens about the harassment done by Duterte’s supporters – which have been branded online as “Dutertards” – to people who oppose the platforms of the PDP-Laban bet.

“Hopefully, it’s just a joke, but you make threats in a very serious manner,” Binay said in a chance interview.

“[I think] birds of the same feather flock together,” he said rather disparagingly.

Reports said that some rabid Duterte followers have taken to bullying and threatening anti-Duterte folk in social media. These threats include killing them or in the case of women, raping them.

The Vice President, in the same interview, also alleged that Duterte supporters have damaged vehicles which bore campaign posters from rival candidates. He said these include vehicles that have been marked “Binay.”

“We have received reports in Cebu that the coasters were damaged. Let’s not do that. Let’s fight for the true spirit of democracy,” Binay said.

source: mb.com.ph