Nene fears frame-up, for Matobato’s life

By NITZ ARANCON
and LITO RULONA
Correspondents

FORMER Senate President Aquilino Pimentel Jr. yesterday expressed fears for the life of self-confessed hitman Edgar Matobato, saying “some evil-minded individuals  might do him in” so that President Duterte would be blamed.

On Thursday, Matobato faced the Senate’s justice committee with a litany of allegations against President Duterte and his son Paolo, the vice mayor of Davao City. He linked them to many killings in Davao.

“He (Matobato) should be placed under the Witness Protection Program,” said Pimentel.

But a day earlier, his son,  Senate President Aquilino Martin III, denied the request for protective custody of Matobato “because there is no Senate rule to justify it.”

The younger Pimentel also said, “There’s even no showing that his (Matobato’s) life or safety is threatened. Worse, the witness’ testimony is not even relevant to the resolution being investigated.”

The elder Pimentel however said, “I am apprehensive that some evil-minded individuals  might do him (Matobato) in and lay the blame on the President.”

Matobato is facing a dilemma now after the Senate President rejected a request for him to be protected by the Senate. An official of the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) told him they cannot give him protection and many of the people he linked to the killings are with the National Police and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI). The NBI is under the Department of Justice (DOJ) headed by Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II who accused Matobato of lying and fabricating his narrative against the Dutertes.

The former Senate President said whoever presented Matobato “should probably do something to protect him.”

The elder Pimentel added: “Not because he is telling the truth. But because if he is killed, people might suspect that the President [and] his men were responsible for it even if it’s untrue.”

He expressed doubt over the claims made by Matobato against the Dutertes, saying “it’s so easy to allege things [and] so hard to prove facts.”

“His credibility still has to be proven but his life is at stake,” the elder Pimentel said.

On Friday, Justice Secretary Aguirre lashed out at the Senate committee on justice for Matobato’s “lies.”

During a gathering of prosecutors at Pryce Plaza Hotel here, Aguirre called Matobato’s testimony “fabricated, and was a product of a fertile and coached imagination.”

He said Matobato was under the DOJ’s Witness Protection Program in 2013 when the Senate committee’s chair, Sen. Leila de Lima, was the Commission’s chairperson.

Aguirre said, “Mr. Matobato stated that he did not execute an affidavit containing what he stated before the Senate hearing on Thursday. How can that be possible? He stated that he was under the Witness Protection Program before. One cannot be part of the WPP without executing an affidavit. He is obviously not telling the truth. Can he be trusted?” he stated.

He also questioned the act of Matobato speak before the Senate committee on justice. “How it is possible that he could just arrive at the Senate without him being invited or without him knowing that there is a Senate inquiry last Thursday. How can he not name who brought him to the Senate? Who is he protecting? It is just a simple question that he cannot answer. Something is not right. How can you believe him?”

Aguirre questioned why de Lima did not cause the filing of charges against President Duterte at the time when she was CHR chairperson and when she became Justice secretary.

He said Matobato was presented to senators at a time when a Lower House committee was about to look into the proliferation of illegal drugs in the Bureau of Corrections during de Lima’s watch as DOJ secretary. The bureau is under the DOJ.

“This is futile attempt to divert the public’s attention against the parties who are responsible for drugs in the Bucor. Desperate times call for desperate measures and somebody is really desperate,” he said.