Press Release
August 25, 2017

Sen. Leila M. de Lima on her advice to the policemen involved in the killing of Kian Loyd Delos Santos
Dispatch from Crame No. 142

The three (3) policemen involved in the summary execution of Kian Loyd Delos Santos are perfectly within their rights when they invoked during yesterday's Senate inquiry their rights to silence and against self-incrimination. Like other criminals or suspected criminals, they are assured of such rights by no less than our Constitution.

My saying so is not at all in defense of or accommodation of what these butchers in uniform have done to a helpless and hapless 17-yr-old. Like many of us, I want these lawless elements of the PNP prosecuted to the full extent of the law. Give them their day in court, and once proven guilty, let them be meted with appropriate penalty.

Having said that, I venture to offer this unsolicited (and unwelcome, I'm sure) advice to these policemen and all others in the police force, including their chief, Dir. Gen. Dela Rosa himself, who have been blindly enforcing, with impunity, the presidential order of nationwide bloodbath--

You better come clean now and save your institution from further ignominy and our country from further moral turmoil. Think about your family and the next generation of Filipino people.

Think about ICC. Duterte will not be President forever. He will not be there to save you when the day of reckoning and judgment comes as it will surely come.

Remember this--obedience to a clearly unlawful order is NOT a defense in criminal prosecution especially of a most heinous crime as crimes against humanity.

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