Osmeña to speak again at House hearing

CEBU, Philippines — Former Cebu City mayor Tomas Osmeña has been invited again as resource speaker at the quad committee hearing of the House of Representatives, as it continues its investigation, in aid of legislation, into the extrajudicial killings in the country this Friday.

Approximately a week after he first showed up during the hearing, the committee had invited Osmeña again to the 7th public hearing that will be held in the People's Center Building, House of Representatives, Quezon City.

“Your testimonies will provide insights and vital information for (the) ongoing investigation, in aid of legislation, regarding extrajudicial killings,” read a portion of the invitation letter.

The Sept. 13 letter was signed by Rep. Robert Ace Barbers, who is also the chairman of the Committee on Drugs of the House of Representatives.

During the first hearing, Osmeña had dragged the name of former Office of the Presidential Assistant for the Visayas secretary Michael Dino as being linked to Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs) in Cebu.

“There is also a very big development in Cebu City today. Billions of pesos are being spent in multi-high-rise buildings and nobody seems to be aware of what's going on,” Osmeña said during the hearing.

“It is allegedly owned by someone who's very influential with the Duterte administration, which is Michael Dino, former presidential assistant, and is closely associated with some of the people, that I fear, associated with all these POGO activities,” he added.

The first invitation of Osmeña came shortly after former Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) general manager Royina Garma was cited in contempt by the quad committee of the House of Representatives, last September 13.

It was reported that Garma was deemed to have lied to lawmakers during the joint panel’s probe into the 2016 killing of three convicted Chinese drug traffickers at the Davao penal colony.

Garma served as the Cebu City Police Office director under the Duterte administration. Osmeña had admitted being opposed to Garma’s stint as city director. (FREEMAN)