SEN. Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa yesterday apologized to Antipolo City Rep. Romeo Acop and said he was not among the congressmen he was referring to when he criticized members of the House of Representatives as “unprincipled” and called them as “opportunists” in relation to the ongoing quad committee probe on the Duterte administration’s bloody war on drugs.
Dela Rosa apologized to Acop, who was his senior at the Philippine Military Academy. Acop belongs to PMA Class of 1971, while Dela Rosa is from PMA Class of 1986.
“Klaruhin ko: Gen. Acop, sir, hindi po ikaw ang pinapatamaan ko doon. You were never a sipsip to the Duterte administration. I never heard you sang praises to the war on drugs of the Duterte administration kaya nagtataka ako bakit ka nagre-react. Hindi ikaw ang pinatatamaan ko, yun iba po (Let me clarify: Gen. Acop, sir, I was not alluding to you. You did not kowtow to the Duterte administration. I never heard you sing praises to the war on drugs of the Duterte administration that’s why I am wondering why you reacted that way. I was referring to the other congressmen),” dela Rosa said in an interview with the Senate media.
“I’m very sorry kung you reacted that way. Hindi po ikaw ang pinapatamaan ko…I have high respect to Cong. Acop. Isa ‘yan sa Philippine Military Academy na naging politiko na hinahangaan ko. Dalawa ‘yan – sila ni Sen. Lacson, aking ini-idolo (I’m very sorry if you reacted that way. I was not alluding to you…I have high respect for Cong. Acop. Cong Acop and Sen. [Panfilo] Lacson are two of the PMA graduates who became politicians whom I look up to),” he said.
In an interview last Friday, Dela Rosa said he was disappointed with congressmen who were once all praises about Duterte’s war on drugs but are now singing different tunes and have become of the biggest critics of former President Rodrigo Duterte. He did not name names.
On Sunday, Acop shot back at Dela Rosa and called him a lapdog of Duterte and the “real opportunist” for taking advantage of his closeness with the former president to win a Senate seat.
Acop is the vice chair of a four-committee panel collectively known as the “quad comm” which is currently investigating the alleged links between Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs), illegal drugs trade, and the extrajudicial killings of the past administration.
Dela Rosa refused to comment on his senior’s remarks, saying he respects the lawmaker from Antipolo City. He said he will reach out to Acop to clarify matters.
‘FISHING EXPEDITION’
Dela Rosa said he finds nothing wrong with the investigation being conducted by the three committees of the quad committee of the House, except for the Committee on Human Rights chaired by Manila Rep. Benny Abante.
Abante, he said, likes to recycle alleged human rights issues under the Duterte administration.
“Isang committee lang ang hindi ko nagugustustuhan, ang pag imbestiga against EJKs about war on drugs. Pabalik-balik na lang ‘yan para sirang plaka (There is this one committee which I don’t like the way it investigates the extrajudicial killings on the war on drugs. The issues are like a broken record that keeps on playing and playing),” he said.
He added Abante’s panel is just on a “fishing expedition.”
GUBAN TESTIMONY
In a quad comm hearing in Pampanga last Friday, former Bureau of Customs intelligence officer Jimmy Guban implicated Davao City Rep. Paolo Duterte, lawyer Maneses Carpio and former economic adviser Michael Yang in the smuggling of P11 billion worth of shabu hidden in magnetic lifters at the Manila International Container Port in 2018.
Carpio is the husband of Vice President Sara Duterte.
Guban also claimed that a former official of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) asked him to incriminate former senator Antonio Trillanes IV in the shabu shipment so he can “walk free” of the charges of conspiracy to import illegal drugs that was filed against him.
Dela Rosa said he will file a resolution to investigate the “unbelievable” claims of Guban, saying they were “obviously scripted.”
He said he had known Trillanes for years and believes that he will never be involved in illegal drugs.
“Wala akong basis na maniwala na involved siya sa droga kahit gaano ako kagalit sa kanya.
Katotohanan lang tayo na porque kalaban ay ididiin mo sa droga (I have no basis to believe that he [Trillanes] is involved in illegal drugs even if I am angry at him. I am for the truth, and I will not pin him down even though he is my enemy),” he said.
He said the Senate investigation will focus on all aspects of the alleged importation of shabu hidden in the magnetic lifters, with emphasis on Guban’s testimony at the House.
“Tututukan natin lahat ng anggulo, kung totoo ba ang sinasabi niya dahil mabigat ang sinabi niya (We will focus on all angles, if what he [Guban] said was true because it carries a lot of weight). The people deserve to know the truth,” Dela Rosa said.
He said that implicating Carpio in the illegal shipment of illegal drugs is also unbelievable, adding that he will determine why Guban is only making the allegations now.
Dela Rosa reiterated that he will not attend the House quad comm investigation.
HOUSE HEARINGS
At the House, administration lawmakers yesterday urged Vice President Sara Duterte to convince her husband and her brother to participate in the joint investigation of the four committees.
House deputy majority leader Jude Acidre (PL, Tingog) and assistant majority leader Jil Bongalon (PL, Ako Bicol) said Rep. Duterte and Carpio should just face the quad comm to answer the allegations of Guban.
“VP Sara is better off convincing her husband Mans and her brother Pulong to join the House quad committee investigation. This will benefit her beleaguered family and the Filipino people, who, like us, want answers,” Acidre said. “We assure VP Sara that Atty. Mans and Cong. Pulong will be given the courtesies and respect due to them, given their stature. Walang halong pulitika ito. Pawang katotohanan lang ang pakay ng quad comm (This is not political. The quad comm is only searching for the truth).”
The Vice President has said the allegations of Guban, a detained former Customs intelligence officer, was nothing but “political harassment” since she has severed her alliance with the Marcos administration when she resigned as education secretary last July.
The lawmakers said the Vice President was just employing a “diversionary rhetoric, which does not add anything of substance to the public discourse.”
“These are grave allegations (by Guban). The adage, ‘Don’t be afraid of you having nothing to hide,’ applies here,” Acidre said, echoing the line of Duterte supporters in defending the previous’ administration’s war on drugs.
Bongalon reminded the Vice President that the same thing can be said about her because she only began assailing the administration about supposedly longstanding problems in governance “with the 2025 mid-term elections fast-approaching.”
“VP was quiet about all of these in her two years with the Marcos Cabinet,” Bongalon said. “That, to me, is also suspect timing. It would go as far as to say that it is opportunistic. The bottom line is that her family members have a lot of explaining to do. They should stop insulting Filipinos by treating them like they were born yesterday.”
Surigao del Sur Rep. Johnny Pimentel, a member of the quad comm, said he believes Guban’s testimony that Davao City Councilor Nilo “Small” Abellara Jr. is a business partner of Yang, Rep. Duterte and Carpio.
“I know councilor Small Abellera is very close to the personalities mentioned. It is important to invite him in the next hearing,” Pimentel said in a statement.
Guban has told the four House panels that in 2017, he was introduced by a Chinese businessman he only knew as “Henry” to Abellera Jr.
“In the said meeting, Small told me that he is the business partner and trusted man of Michael Yang, Pulong Duterte, the son of then President Rodrigo Duterte, and Atty. Mans Carpio, the husband of then Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte,” Guban in his ffidavit.
Guban earlier named Abellera as the conduit for Duterte, Carpio and Yang who allegedly wanted the customs intelligence section to turn a blind eye on their illegal drug shipments disguised as importations of agricultural products like sugar, rice and vegetables.
The quad comm chairmen also laughed off the Vice President’s allegation, saying she is obviously just trying to divert the issue.
Rep. Joseph Stephen Paduano (PL, Abang Lingkod), chairperson of the Committee on Public Accounts, also dismissed the Vice President’s claim that the allegations against her husband and brother are mere political harassment, saying the joint panel is “committed to finding the truth based on evidence, not politics.”
“If the Dutertes have nothing to hide, they have nothing to fear from our investigation,” Paduano said. “Our investigation is thorough and impartial. We follow the facts wherever they lead, and we won’t allow any distractions to derail our efforts.”
Paduano also advised the Dutertes to “answer the allegations directly instead of resorting to diversionary tactics.”
Sta. Rosa Rep. Dan Fernandez, chair of the public order panel, said: “If there’s nothing to hide, there’s no need to worry. Our mandate is clear: to uphold the law and ensure that justice is served. We will not be swayed by claims of harassment when the focus should be on the facts.”
Surigao del Norte Rep. Robert Ace Barbers, chair of the Committee on Dangerous Drugs and the quad comm panel, said the job of the committee is to follow the evidence where it leads.
“Political harassment has no place here; we are just doing our job. The truth is paramount. We are not here to play politics, but to uphold the principles of justice and accountability,” he said.
Abante said: “We won’t be deterred by claims of harassment. Our responsibility is to the Filipino people. We will continue our work without fear or favor, ensuring that the law is applied equally to all.”
Abante also challenged Dela Rosa to just attend the House quad comm’s hearing to clarify his role in the alleged state-sponsored summary executions linked to the Duterte administration’s war on drugs.
He issued the challenge after Dela Rosa criticized the committee for allegedly rehashing the issue, calling the investigation a “broken record.” Dela Rosa had repeatedly declined the House invitations, citing inter-parliamentary courtesy as an excuse.
“Kung may sasabihin, huwag niya sabihin sa media, sabihin niya sa quad comm para talagang maging malinaw ang mga sagot niya (If he has something to say, don’t say it in the media, say it in the quad comm so his answers will be clear). We’re giving him the opportunity, due process for him to air his side and for us to be able to know his feelings about this,” he said. — With Wendell Vigilia
