Senator Richard Gordon said, Edgar Matobato was not immune from suit, and President Rodrigo Duterte could file charges against him.
“I told him, kapag may sasabihin ka, pwedeng gamitin sa husgado ‘yan kaya mag-ingat ka. Magsabi ka ng totoo. He’s not immune,” Gordon said.
Gordon is the new chair of the Senate justice committee conducting the investigation, after Senator Leila de Lima was ousted by her colleagues from the post.
De Lima argued that the legislative immunity "will provide him a sufficient freedom of will and volition conducive to an uninhibited, robust, and wide-open investigation" of the justice committee.
Matobato claimed that Duterte ordered the killings attributed to the DDS during the latter’s term as mayor of Davao City.
“You go there at your own peril. When you say something against somebody, you have to be accountable for that. You cannot just bask in the righteousness, so to speak,” Gordon said.
Duterte, a lawyer and former prosecutor, earlier cautioned that lying under oath was a crime, when asked to comment about Matobato’s testimony.
Senator Gordon meanwhile said he noticed several inconsistencies in Matobato’s statements during the resumption of the Senate inquiry Thursday.
“The way I look at him, here’s a guy who wanted recognition or a little bit of vengeance...But whether he did all the killings, even he was inconsistent,” Gordon said.