Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, August 29) — The parents of slain 17-year-old Kian Delos Santos were granted on Tuesday provisional admission into the government’s witness protection program (WPP), said Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II.
“They voluntarily went to us at the DOJ today to apply for admission to the WPP. And we immediately accommodated them,” Aguirre said in a statement.
He said Saldy and Lorenza Delos Santos’s choice to come to his office shows they have confidence in him and in the Department of Justice (DOJ).
“This just shows, that contrary to the unfounded allegations of bias hurled against me by some ill-motivated or ill-informed sectors, the parents of Kian de los Santos have full faith and confidence with me and the DOJ in the handling of their son’s case,” he said.
Under the witness protection program, those seeking protection must execute a memorandum of agreement with the Department of Justice, hence the provisional admission.
Aguirre has been accused of some senators of bias against Kian’s case, calling for him to inhibit himself from handling it.
A group of student leaders and law students, accompanied by the “running priest” Father Robert Reyes, filed a petition on Tuesday at the Justice Department for Aguirre to inhibit himself from the probe on Kian’s death.
“It is our view that the DOJ Secretary’s involvement in the case of Kian de los Santos is detrimental to having a thorough and impartial investigation of the case,” said Kathleen Benavidez of UP Law School in a statement.
President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday met with the parents of Kian. Kian was killed on August 16 in Caloocan City police’s anti-drugs operation. Police said he was a drug runner.
The parents of Kian said they are confident that President Duterte will act swiftly on the investigation into their son’s death.
