PNP colonel cited in contempt at quad comm hearing

MANILA, Philippines — The police colonel who accused two officials of the House of Representatives of allegedly coercing him to testify against former president Rodrigo Duterte’s purported state-sanctioned extrajudicial killings (EJKs) was cited in contempt by the quad committee last night.

The motion of Antipolo 2nd District Rep. Romeo Acop to cite Col. Hector Grijaldo in contempt was carried after it was seconded by other members of the special committee.

Grijaldo will be detained at Station 6 of the Quezon City Police District, which is just across the Batasan Pambansa complex.

Lawmakers showed the closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage where the police officer – a classmate and close friend of whistleblower and retired colonel Royina Garma – was even “all smiles” during the time that he was “coerced” by Representatives Dan Fernandez of Santa Rosa, Laguna and Bienvenido Abante of Manila’s sixth district to corroborate Garma’s story.

Acop, a lawyer and retired police general, pointed out that the CCTV indicated there was “no animosity” among Fernandez, Abante and Grijaldo himself, who earned the ire of legislators for repeatedly invoking his right against self-incrimination when there was no incriminating question to begin with.

Fernandez and Abante, who both took oath to tell the truth and be resource persons in the hearing, related that the relationship between the three of them were in fact “very cordial,” which only meant that Grijaldo was not forced to support Garma’s narrative.

“I just wanted to show in this footage that he was full of braggadocio so to speak, during the Senate hearing where he made the accusations. The video footage does not lie,” lead presiding panel chairman and Surigao del Norte 2nd District Rep. Robert Ace Barbers said.

“Why don’t you bring out your bravado here? And yet you show to the public that you are a victim in this case? And you have the gall to talk about honor and integrity here? Honor and integrity is not about telling a lie,” Barbers added.

Grijaldo, who was seated beside Abante during the quad comm hearing, could not see eye to eye with the administration lawmakers, with his head down the whole time.

The police colonel consistently said he “stands by” his Senate testimony and refuses to answer lawmakers’ questions.

Abang Lingkod party-list Rep. Joseph Stephen Paduano said Grijaldo would be detained at the Batasan police station “until after the committee report is adopted,” or until after the legislators have agreed to release the comprehensive report.

Acop noticed that Grijaldo kept on evading the hearings despite repeated invitations and summonses by making it appear that he is confined for an alleged operation, which Deputy Speaker David Suarez questioned why the police official chose a clinic inside a mall.

In November last year, two counsels of Garma declared that claims made Grijaldo that two chairmen of the quad committee had coerced him to sign is absolutely baseless.

Batangas 2nd District Rep. Gerville Luistro showed a letter during a resumption of the EJK hearing sent by the lawyers to congressmen.

Luistro described Grijaldo’s claims as a “perjured statement” and nothing but “baseless allegations.”

“At no point did any of the congressmen attempt to pressure (police colonel Hector) Grijaldo into conforming to a pre-determined narrative,” lawyers Emerito Quilang and Rotciv Cumigad stated in a joint statement.

“At no point did we see or hear any actions or statements that could be interpreted as pressuring Grijaldo to conform to a specific narrative,” they explained further, in effect absolving Abante and Fernandez of allegations that they forced Grijaldo to corroborate Garma’s affidavit.

The two-page letter, carrying the header “Cumigad Law Offices,” issued the clarification, especially in light of the colonel’s claims made before the Senate Blue Ribbon committee, “particularly regarding any knowledge Grijaldo might have about the reward system” that Garma exposed.

“Our intention in providing this statement is to clarify the nature of the interactions that occurred and to provide an unbiased and factual account of the events,” they stressed. – Jose Rodel Clapano