House solons irked over non-appearance
“IS he afraid of us?”
Rep. Joseph Stephen Paduano (PL, Abang Lingkod) raised this question after former President Rodrigo Duterte yesterday snubbed the House quad committee’s 10th hearing on the proliferation of illegal drugs and the extrajudicial killings under his administration’s bloody war on drugs.
“Naglolokohan tayo dito (We’re fooling each other here) because in the first letter, (Duterte) promised us that he will be present after November 1. Kung hindi tayo naglolokohan dito, ano, natatakot siya na pumunta dito? (If we’re not fooling each other, then what is it then? Could it be that he is afraid to come here?) We should invite the former President again to be present in the next hearing,” said Paduano, chair of the House Committee on Public Accounts.
He said the former president is taking the joint committee for a fool, citing his previous commitment to attend the hearings in the first letter that his lawyer Martin Delgra sent to the panel for its ninth hearing last October 21.
In a letter to the committee last month, Delgra said his client was willing to attend the hearing after November 1.
However, in another letter on November 5, Delgra said Duterte’s presence in the hearing is no longer necessary as he has already said everything when he faced the Senate blue ribbon sub-committee last week.
Delgra also said his client is doubtful about the fairness of the House joint committee in handling the legislative inquiry even if he had no qualms participating in last week’s Senate hearing.
The former president has particularly questioned the impartiality of Reps. Bienvenido Abante Jr. of Manila and Rep. Dan Fernandez of Sta. Rosa City, quad committee co-chairs.
“Regrettably, upon consultation with him, my client respectfully manifests that while he respects and recognizes the authority of the Honorable Committees to conduct inquiries, in aid of legislation, he cannot attend the public hearing as scheduled for the following reasons. First, with all due respect, my client is already doubtful as to the Honorable House quad committee’s integrity, independence, and probity to conduct the legislative inquiry in aid of legislation,” Delgra said in the November 5 letter.
“This is the second hearing that we invited the former President. Mr. Chairman, naglolokohan tayo dito (he’s just fooling us),” Paduano said. “Why? because the first reply made (by) Atty. Delgra representing the former president is, the excuse is, that the former President needs much rest and assured this committee that he will be present in the next hearing at the same time he has a specific date, Mr. Chairman, given to this committee through this letter, after November 1.”
Lanao del Sur Rep. Zia Alonto-Adiong said Duterte’s absence was a “clear act of evasion.”
On the motion of Antipolo City Rep. Romeo Acop, the panel invited Delgra to the next hearing to allow the joint panel to seek clarification.
House Majority Leader Manuel Jose Dalipe said Duterte appears to have “chickened out” because he cannot face congressmen who are critical of his war on drugs and the families of the victims of summary killings.
“Sa tingin namin, parang naduwag si dating Pangulong Duterte sa pagdalo sa quad comm hearing dahil takot siyang harapin at sagutin ang mas malalalim na katanungan ng mga miyembro ng Kamara at pamilya ng mga biktima ng EJKs na humihingi ng katarungan (We think former President Duterte seems to be too afraid to attend the quad comm hearing because he fears facing and answering the deeper questions of House members and the families of EJK victims who are calling for justice),” Dalipe said.
Zambales Rep. Jeffrey Khonghun said if the former President truly wanted the public to be informed about his bloody war on drugs, along with his admission that he encouraged law enforcers in Davao City to encourage suspects to fight back to justify killings, he should attend future hearings.
‘MUKING’
The joint panel also subpoenaed Sen. Bong Go’s aide Irmina Espino, otherwise known as “Muking,” who is said have played a huge role in the reward system for cops who killed rugs suspects.
During the Senate inquiry, Duterte said that as Davao City mayor, he created a seven-man hit squad known as the Davao Death Squad (DDS) led by former PNP chiefs, including former PNP chief and now Sen. Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa.
While claiming that he did not directly order summary killings, Duterte stated that he instructed officers to provoke suspects to fight back, making it easier to justify their deaths.
“Who makes jokes under oath? Who laughs while mothers bury their sons? Who finds humor in this horror? This is no laughing matter. The lives lost, the grief that lingers, the blood spilled in our streets—these are not punchlines in a cruel joke. These are lives, young innocent lives, taken from us,” Abante said.
“We have the statement of the former president. We also have testimony and evidence that corroborates what he said under oath. Now we must hold to account those who have perpetrated these heinous crimes,” he added.
Congressmen have been wanting Duterte to confront former Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) general manager Royina Garma, a former police lieutenant colonel, who testified about the reward system, claiming that cash incentives were provided to personnel who eliminated suspected drug offenders.
Garma previously accused Duterte of spearheading in May 2016 the nationwide expansion of the alleged “Davao model,” which encouraged the killing of drug suspects in exchange for cash.
‘JOKE’S ON HIM’
Paduano also the slammed Dela Rosa’s behavior during the Senate hearing, saying it “undermined the integrity of the institution that he is bound to respect” because he should have been there as a resource person, having been the chief implementer of the drug war when he was PNP chief during the early years of the Duterte administration.
“Clearly, this is a conflict of interest on his part. At the very least, he should have inhibited from the proceedings and instead offered himself as a resource person so as not to influence and intimidate the other guests,” he said.
Barbers also assailed Dela Rosa for claiming that the mega-panel’s probe into the drug war was a “gag show,” saying the joke is actually on the senator who is being investigated by the International Criminal Court (ICC) along with Duterte.
“We may be accused of providing entertainment and likened to a gag show, but who is laughing?” Barbers said in his opening statement at the start of the hearing. “On the contrary, the one who said that must be so full of himself that he didn’t notice that the joke was on him.”
Barbers also dismissed allegations that witnesses have been coerced into testifying, including recent claims from Police Colonel Hector Grijaldo, who alleged pressure from committee leaders to confirm the existence of a reward system in the drug war.
“Forced admissions, in any way, were never a part of quad comm,” Barbers said, who also chairs the Committee on Dangerous Drugs.
“If, along the way, people are found to be liable, it is our duty to make sure that justice is served. There is nothing funny about it. We only mean serious business,” he also said.
Garma’s two lawyers Emerito Quilang and Rotciv Cumicad also denied Grijaldo’s claim that congressmen were coercing witnesses.
In the course of today’s 10th hearing, Batangas Rep. Gerville Luistro read the lawyers’ joint statement: “We would like to shed light on the nature of the interactions we observed the discussions were focused on ensuring clarity and understanding of Col. Garman’s affidavit particularly regarding any knowledge Col. Grijaldo might have about the reward system mentioned in it. At no point did any of the congressmen attempt to pressure Mr. Grijaldo into conforming to a predetermined narrative.”
Luistro said the letter clears Abante and Fernandez “from the allegation of coercion and harassment about that incident which allegedly transpired during the hearing where Col. Grijaldo attended as testified to during the Senate investigation.”
“With the enlightenment given to us by the counsels of record of Col. Garma, I am urging the quad committee, particularly chairman Abante and chairman Fernandez, to take the necessary action in order to penalize the perjured statement that Col. Grijaldo gave during the Senate investigation,” she said.
PROTECTOR
Former anti-drug operative police Col. Eduardo Acierto reiterated his claim that Duterte was the “protector” of suspected drug lords Michael Yang and his close friend Allan Lim, who is also known as Lin Weixiong.
In 2017, Acierto and his team compiled an intelligence report detailing the alleged involvement of Yang, who once served as Duterte’s economic adviser, and Lim in the illegal drug trade.
“Sigurado po ako dahil sa mga nangyari sa aking mga tauhan. Prinotektahan niya si Michael Yang at si Allan Lim (I’m sure of it because of what happened to my men. He protected Michael Yang and Allan Lim)” Acierto, who participated in the hearing through an online platform, told the hearing from an undisclosed location.
Acierto, who said Duterte wanted him dead for investigating Yang and Lim, was referring to his subordinates, police Capt. Lito Perote and MSgt. Gerry Liwanag. He said Duterte and Go placed a P50 million bounty on his head.
Acierto claimed that he and Perote had discovered the illegal activities of Yang ang Lim, but Perote has since gone missing and has been presumed dead.
Perote was abducted by armed men in bulletproof vests in Bacolod City in April 2019, while Liwanag was shot dead by unidentified assailants in San Jose del Monte City in February 2021.
In his intelligence report, Acierto stated that Yang had operated drug laboratories in Mindanao since the early 2000s, including a clandestine shabu manufacturing hub in Dumoy, Davao City. This facility was raided by authorities on December 31, 2004, yielding over 100 kilos of high-grade shabu with a street value exceeding P300 million.
Based on a drug matrix prepared by Acierto’s team, Yang is a member of the Johnson Chua drug syndicate led by a certain Johnson Co, who is based in mainland China.
Yang, alias “Dragon” due to a tattoo on his back, and Lim are allegedly in-charge of facilitating the entry of illegal drugs in the country through the help of several officials in the Bureau of Customs.
Acierto said Lim is behind the clandestine laboratory, which was raided by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) in Cavite in July 2018 where P10.4 billion worth of drugs and equipment for the manufacturing of illegal drugs were seized.
SAVING THE QUEEN
Former Customs intelligence officer Jimmy Guban testified that the “Davao mafia” which allegedly involves family members and close allies of the ex-president orchestrated his and the downfall of other people to “save the queen” and advance her future political plans, apparently referring to Vice President Sara Duterte.
Guban earlier claimed that Duterte’s son Paolo, a Davao City congressman, his son-in-law Manases Carpio, husband of the Vice President, and Yang were allegedly behind an P11 billion drug contraband seized in Cavite.
He linked the three to the discovery of massive magnetic lifters used to clandestinely transport hundreds of kilograms of shabu into the country in 2018.
“Si (former Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency deputy director general) Col. (Ismael) Fajardo po namatay (died). Si Captain (Lito) Perote, si agent Ernan Abario na kasama ko sa Customs, patay (who were with me in Customs both died). Dalawa rin ang namatay sa akin (I lost two men). Sa kanya (Acierto) ilan (din) ang namatay dahil po diyan sa Davao mafia (He lost some men, too, and that’s because of the Davao Mafia), and their purpose (is) to save the queen in order to become the next president,” Guban said.
In 2018, Guban testified before the Senate implicating Acierto, but now, appearing before the House quad committee, he revealed that he had faced death threats and intense pressure to falsely accuse Acierto, who said he does not hold any grudge towards Guban.
Guban, who turned emotional upon seeing Acierto on screen, was convicted in connection with the controversial drug importation, while his co-accused, Acierto, has been hiding since 2019.
