THE House quad committee last night cited a police colonel in contempt for the second time for refusing to substantiate his allegation that the joint panel had tried to force him to confirm the testimonies of fellow former police officials that there was a reward system for cops who killed drug suspects in the Duterte administration’s bloody war on drugs.
The panel led by Surigao del Norte Rep. Robert Ace Barbers, the overall chair, adopted the motion of senior vice chair Antipolo Rep. Romeo Acop to cite Police Col. Hector Grijaldo in contempt for the second time for disrespecting the mega panel and undermining its integrity by wrongfully invoking his right against self-incrimination when asked to back his allegations against congressmen.
The quad committee also adopted the motion of Rep. Joseph Stephen (PL, Abang Lingkod), a panel co-chair, to have Grijaldo detained at the Quezon City Police District Station 6 until the panel releases its final committee report on its investigation into the war on drugs.
Citing Supreme Court jurisprudence, both Acop and Paduano said Grijaldo could not invoke his right against self-incrimination since there is no pending case filed against him in a court of law.
“You are just telling me of your ignorance of the law. Kasama kita sa serbisyo, pero nakakahiya ka (We were both in the service, but you are an embarrassment),” said Acop, a former police official.
Paduano reminded Grijaldo that the right can only be invoked when lawmakers ask him incriminatory questions, which was not the case.
In a Senate hearing last October 28, Grijaldo accused quad comm co-chairmen Reps. Dan Fernandez of Santa Rosa City and Bienvenido Abante Jr. of Manila of pressuring him to allegedly confirm the illegal reward system during a private meeting.
Grijaldo alleged that Fernandez handed him a supplemental affidavit from retired Police Colonel and former Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office General Manager Royina Garma and instructed him to affirm its contents.
This prompted the quad comm to cite Grijaldo in contempt and order his detention last month.
Fernandez, who earlier said the allegations could be a demolition job aimed at attacking him and Abante, also a quad comm co-chair, to discredit the joint panel and its proceedings, said the police colonel’s excuses were “not acceptable.”
Fernandez has already explained that the meeting was called upon the request of Garma, who was the first to confirm the reward system along with former police Col. Edilberto Leonardo.
Garma’s two lawyers, who were present during the meeting attended by Fernandez, Grijaldo and Abante, have already denied the police official’s allegations, which Fernandez said happened after he mentioned the name of Sen. Ronald Dela Rosa’s son during the October 22 hearing of the quad comm.
Fernandez said that in that hearing, he quizzed police Lt. Col. Bryan Andulan about his alleged involvement in the assassination of Los Baños, Laguna mayor Caesar Perez.
The lawmaker asked Andulan what his relationship with Dela Rosa was and when the police officer told him that he was assigned to the Philippine National Police Academy, Fernandez surmised that it connects Andulan to Dela Rosa because the senator’s son was a plebe at the PNPA at the time.
Barbers assailed Grijaldo’s evasiveness and his stonewalling when repeatedly asked back the contents of his Senate affidavit.
“The resource person is out of order, and let it be of record that he is continuously disrespecting this committee by refusing to answer appropriately,” Barbers said.
The panel lead chair also compared Grijaldo’s combative behavior in the Senate and his demeanor at the House where he appeared to have been mellowed down, keeping his head down at times.
“Noong nasa Senado ka ang tapang-tapang mo e. Bakit dito ayaw mo? Magtapang ka rito. Ipakita mo ‘yung the same candor, the same tapang na pinakita mo doon (When you were in the Senate, you were cocky. Why don’t you do it here? Be cocky here. Show the same candor, the same cockiness you showed there),” Barbers said.
Barbers accused Grijaldo of fabricating stories to tarnish the House’s reputation. “You’re a police officer, and you should have that honor,” he told the police officer.
During the hearing, Fernandez and Abante inhibited themselves by volunteering to be resource persons of the panel, sitting side by side with Grijaldo who was questioned by their colleagues.
“We can also be asked by the members of this committee,” said Fernandez. “We’re willing to go down and vacate our seat here.”
In a light moment, Paduano said in jest that he, Barbers and Acop now have the opportunity to “get back” at their two colleagues since Acop maintained that the two can be cited in contempt when found lying under oath.
Also yesterday, the joint panel lifted its contempt citation against former Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) chief Wilkins Villanueva who has been detained at the House for allegedly trying to evade the questions of lawmakers.
Barbers approved the motion of Paduano for the panel to lift the contempt citation and detention order after Villanueva filed a motion for reconsideration.
Villanueva was cited in contempt last month for allegedly being evasive in answering committee members’ questions about the arrest of Jed Pilapil Sy, wife of suspected drug lord and Chinese national Allan Sy, during a PDEA raid in a suspected shabu laboratory in Davao City in 2004.
In the spirit of the Christmas season, the five panels deferred the enforcement of the detention order to January upon the resumption of session.
“I was the one who moved to cite ex-General Wilkins in contempt, and I appreciate his gesture of seeking a reconsideration, unlike Col. Grijaldo, who resorted to forum shopping,” said Paduano.
Paduano said that instead of seeking a motion for reconsideration, Grijaldo opted to question the committee’s contempt citation before the Supreme Court unlike Villanueva who vowed to fully cooperate with lawmakers.
Abante continued to assail Senator Dela Rosa, who implemented the drug war during the early years of the Duterte administration, for evading the committee’s inquiries.
Instead of facing the House joint panel, Abante said Dela Rosa has been using media to divert attention from the issues that he should face and personally answer.
“Ang ating senador Bato dela Rosa, nung tinanong siya, ayaw naman niyang humarap sa amin. Pinapaharap namin para maging malinaw ang lahat ng bagay. Anong ginagawa niya? Nagpupunta sa media. Kung anu-ano ang pinagsasabi niya (Our senator, Bato dela Rosa, when asked, he didn’t want to face us. We wanted him to attend [the hearings] to clear things. What did he do? He went to the media. He said a lot of things),” Abante said in his opening speech.
The quad comm earlier recommended the filing of charges of crimes against humanity against former president Rodrigo Duterte, Sens. Christopher “Bong” Go and Dela Rosa and others for the thousands of extrajudicial killings (EJKs) committed under the previous administration’s bloody war on drugs.
Barbers, in presenting the quad comm’s progress report to the plenary last month, said Duterte, himself, admitted to the joint panel last November 13 the existence of the Davao Death Squad and the “Davao Template,” which became the model for the national reward system to police officers who killed drug suspects.
Barbers said the former president also admitted having advised and encouraged officers to encourage drug suspects to fight back and assured lawmakers that he was taking “full legal and moral responsibility” for the drug war.
Abante emphasized that the committee’s purpose is not political but is driven by their pursuit of truth and accountability. “Ayaw po nating mahulog ang bansa sa droga pero ayaw din natin ang buong Pilipinas maging killing fields, na pumatay tayo na hindi sinusunod ang Saligang Batas (We don’t want the country to fall because of illegal drugs but we also don’t want it to turn into a killing field, that we kill without following the Constitution),” he said.
“Those entrusted with the duty to protect have enabled injustice. Those who swore to uphold the law have hidden behind silence,” Abante said. “We wield this power not for personal gain, but for our people. And we will not stop until the evildoers who have plagued our country are unmasked.”