THE House of Representatives on Tuesday night adopted the committee report of the quad committee, which has recommended the filing of crimes against humanity charges against former president Rodrigo Duterte, Sen. Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa, Sen. Christopher “Bong” Go and former police officials as early as December last year.
In a 66-page report, which was the result of 15 public hearings between August 2024 and June 2025, the joint panel led by overall chair Surigao del Norte Rep. Robert Ace Barbers, called for the filing of criminal charges for murder and crimes against humanity against Duterte, Dela Rosa, Go and senior police officials involved in the bloody war on drugs.
“File criminal charges under Section 6 (Other Crimes Against Humanity) of Republic Act No. 9851, against the following individuals: former president Rodrigo Roa Duterte, Senator Ronald ‘Bato’ Dela Rosa, Senator Christopher Lawrence ‘Bong’ Go, former PNP chief Oscar David Albayalde, former PNP chief Debold Sinas, PCol. Royina Garma, and PCol. Edilberto Leonardo,” the report proposed.
The joint panel, composed of the Committees on Dangerous Drugs, Public Order and Safety, Human Rights and Public Accounts, first made the recommendation to the plenary last December when Barbers presented the committee’s initial findings, but it was only adopted last Tuesday night after the quad panel concluded its investigation on Monday night.
Duterte was arrested last March and has been detained at The Hague in the Netherlands where he is on trial for crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court (ICC).
The committee report, which was signed by Barbers and co-chairs Reps. Dan Fernandez of Sta. Rosa in Laguna, Bienvenido Abante Jr. of Manila, and Joseph Stephen Paduano (PL, Abang Lingkod), said Duterte’s war on drugs “was inseparable from the thousands of extrajudicial killings (EJKs) it enabled and rewarded.”
In the course of the several months of the committee’s hearings into the Duterte administration’s bloody war on drugs and the extrajudicial killings linked to it, it was also able to establish that money from Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs) were used to reward policemen who killed drug suspects.
“The extrajudicial killings are a product of the war on drugs. The said killings were perpetrated, tolerated and even encouraged and rewarded during the drug war,” the committee said, adding that promotions and prized assignments were “routinely” awarded to PNP officers who killed suspected drug personalities.
It noted that Duterte himself admitted to ordering the hits when he attended the panel’s hearing.
“Former president Duterte admitted that he ordered the PNP to kill drug personalities if they fight or, if they won’t fight, force them to fight to justify the killing,” it said.
The panel said Dela Rosa, who implemented the illegal orders as PNP chief then, is equally liable, along with Go, who allegedly facilitated the payment of the reward money.
Former police colonel Jovie Espenido had claimed before the joint panel that Go provided cash incentives for drug war killings, which retired police colonel and former Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) general manager Royina Garma and other resource persons later corroborated.
“(Go) played a crucial role in the disbursement of funds relating to the rewards system,” the committee said. “The funding of the cash rewards came from, among others, POGO entities,” it added.
The quad committee recommended a deeper investigation into the alleged joint bank accounts of the former president and his daughter, Vice President Sara Duterte, based on the claims of former senator Antonio Trillanes IV that the accounts were used to funnel funds from alleged drug financier Sammy Uy.
The panel also called for amendments to the Bank Secrecy Act, Anti-Dummy Law, and Anti-Money Laundering Act; the creation of a “truly independent” Internal Affairs Service for the PNP, new laws on custodial deaths and autopsies, and reparations for families of drug war victims.
“This is not just about policy failures. This is about killings ordered and protected by the highest officials of the land. The time for accountability has come,” the committee said.
The panel’s report was sponsored by Barbers on the floor.
