The Senate has the power and the prerogative to investigate the PDEA-PNP shootout. And with two ex-PNP chiefs in the chamber, I have no doubt that it will be able to uncover the truth.

An investigation is in order, as there have been alarming cases of friendly fire casualties of late—the Jolo killing of Army soldiers by policemen, to cite one.

People are demanding answers on why a supposedly coordinated operation ended up as a circular firing squad.

And it seems that the one institution trusted by the people who can shed a powerful light on the incident, in a manner that is fast, fearless and fair, is the Senate.

I am confident that the De La Rosa Committee can piece together a seconds-from-disaster timeline of what went wrong.

I am also asking him to look into the police handling of innocent civilians who were caught in the crossfire, and into the SOP medical assistance extended to individuals like them who have likely suffered psychological trauma.(###)