MANILA – Senator Antonio Trillanes IV believes that the Senate lost its independence when President Rodrigo Duterte assumed power.

Trillanes, a staunch Duterte critic, said the Senate enjoyed a certain level of independence during the time of the Duterte's predecessors, but he said this changed when the firebrand leader took power.

“[The Senate] is in an interesting phase. Kasi we're used to having the Senate as the independent body in the legislature and during the time of GMA (Gloria Macapagal Arroyo), ito yung last bastion of democracy. Ito yung boses talaga ng taumbayan,” Trillanes told ANC Beyond Politics.

“So ngayon nandito siya with the entry of President Duterte, suddenly parang na-mute eh, iyung boses. And doon ako naninibago, kasi hindi ganito ang Senado.”

(The Senate is in an interesting phase. We’re used to having the Senate as the independent body in the legislature and during the Arroyo administration, this was the last bastion of democracy. This was the voice of the people. And with the entry of Duterte, suddenly the voices were muted. I’m not used to this. This is not the Senate I know.)

Trillanes said that even during the time of President Benigno Aquino III, senators could freely criticize the administration and even launch investigations against it.

“President Aquino didn't lift a finger para lang ipitin yung mga nagli-lead ng investigations or at least magbigay ng pabuya doon sa mga magde-defend sa kanya. Walang ganun. Kumbaga, if you're after the truth, he opened his doors,” Trillanes said.

Trillanes said this is not the case with Duterte, whom he accused of being behind the plot to oust Senator Leila de Lima as leader of the Senate Committee on Justice.

De Lima, as the committee chair, launched a legislative probe into the alleged extrajudicial killings being linked to the president’s war on drugs. She also introduced an alleged hitman who claimed to have killed several personalities in Davao City on the long-time mayor’s orders.

Trillanes said Duterte, who has repeatedly denied the existence of the so-called Davao Death Squad, obviously felt uncomfortable with the probe and thus ordered De Lima’s removal as committee chair.

Trillanes said De Lima’s removal as committee chair was “unprecedented.”

“You don't do that. If you really believe that your president is clean, then let the committee exhaust all measures to get to the bottom of the truth. And if they can't find anything, then it's to the detriment of the committee chairman,” he said.

But Trillanes said not all is lost for the Senate. He said even if Senate President Aquilino Pimentel III, Duterte’s partymate, denied giving protection to the self-confessed hitman, Edgar Matobato, he still defended De Lima from proposals to show the latter’s alleged sex video in a House probe.

“He was able to redeem himself when he defended Sen. De Lima from the persecution of the House of Representatives. Kumbaga, kahit papaano I'm not losing hope yet kay Sen. Pimentel,” he said.

(He was able to redeem himself when he defended Sen. De Lima from the persecution of the House of Representatives. Somehow, I’m not losing hope yet on Sen. Pimentel.)

During the Aquino administration, Trillanes led a Senate Blue Ribbon subcommittee probe into the alleged corrupt practices of long-time Makati mayor and then Vice President Jejomar Binay. The subcommittee was headed by Pimentel.