MANILA - Senator Leila De Lima assailed Sunday President Rodrigo Duterte's order to investigate the killing of 17-year-old Kian Lloyd Delos Santos during an anti-drug operation.

"The chief instigator and mastermind of the daily carnage ordering a probe into the Kian killing? What a farcical joke!" De Lima said in a statement.

"Sobra na ang mga panloloko at panlilinlang nyo sa taong bayan," she added.

Dispatch from Crame No. 136 Sen. De Lima on Pres. Duterte's call to probe the killing of 17 yr old Kian Delos Santoshttps://t.co/d0tMtaRdmT pic.twitter.com/3OteLlhaxJ

— Leila de Lima (@SenLeiladeLima) August 20, 2017

Delos Santos was killed Wednesday when he allegedly engaged in a shootout with policemen conducting anti-illegal drug operations in Barangay 160, Caloocan. Several witnesses however claimed that the Grade 11 student was mauled by cops, given a gun and told to run for his life.

• READ: Palace on 17-year-old's death in Caloocan: An 'isolated' case

The killing came on the heels of a string of police operations that left 32 people killed in Bulacan.

Duterte had brushed aside questions of irregularities in the Bulacan raids, saying the drug sweep was in fact "good."

Delos Santos’ family is now seeking justice for the minor, saying the latter was never involved in the drug trade.

The Caloocan police meawhile presented a professed drug pusher, claiming that Delos Santos ran errands for a narcotics supplier.

Philippine National Police chief Director General Ronald "Bato" dela Rosa also claimed that the teenager's father and uncles were drug pushers and users.