Metro Manila, Philippines — Former President Rodrigo Duterte, the brains of the bloody drug war, may no longer be invited to the House quad-committee’s inquiry on illegal drugs and extrajudicial killings (EJKs), the lead panel chairperson said.
Surigao del Norte 2nd District Rep. Ace Barbers said the lone attendance of Duterte was already enough to gather information on the matter.
“‘Yong 12-13 hours na meeting natin sa kanya, basically ‘yun na ‘yong gusto nating marinig, a little more than what he revealed or what he admitted in the Senate. So, sa tingin ko sufficient na ‘yon,” Barbers said in a statement on Sunday, Dec. 8.
[Translation: The 12- to 13-hour meeting we had with him, we heard what we wanted there, a little more than what he revealed or what he admitted in the Senate. So, I think that is already sufficient.]
After repeated invitations, Duterte attended the committee’s hearing for the first time on Nov. 13.
He admitted that he had killed police officers who were criminals and others who were linked to illegal drugs.
Duterte also said that he requested for a higher budget to fund the reward system. Retired PCol Royina Garma, a longtime Davao police chief, earlier testified that the system rewarded those who killed drug suspects.
POGO probe
The quad-committee has also been looking into illegal activities of Philippine offshore gaming operations (POGOs).
Barbers said that they are mulling to end the POGO probe.
“We are thinking of already terminating ‘yong hearing namin sa POGO, so tututok na lang tayo sa dalawang usapin ‘yong EJK at saka ‘yong drugs,” he said.
[Translation: We are thinking of already terminating our hearing on POGOs so we can focus on EJK and illegal drugs.]
Progress report
The quad-committee is planning to present its progress report on POGOs and extrajudicial killings to the plenary before the session goes on a break on Dec. 21.
Barbers said they will submit their report as there are things that need to be acted on immediately.
Quad-committee members have introduced four measures in relation to their investigation including a bill defining extrajudicial killing as a heinous crime and a proposal to establish an inter-agency panel that would expedite the cancellation of questionable birth certificates.
The plenary, Barbers said, could suggest to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to include their proposed measures in his priority legislative agenda or to certify those as urgent.
