Surprise House witness tags Paolo Duterte, 2 others in illegal drug smuggling

MANILA, Philippines (Updated 6:18 p.m.) — Jimmy Guban, a former Customs officer who served as a key witness in a shabu smuggling controversy under former President Rodrigo Duterte, has resurfaced to confess that it was Rep. Paolo Duterte (First District, Davao City), Manases Carpio and Michael Yang who owned the magnetic lifters that were found to have concealed P11-billion worth of illegal drugs in 2018.

Guban told the House quad-committee on Friday during its first inquiry that he lied about the persons responsible for the illegal shipment of shabu during his testimony to the Senate in 2018 because of threats to his and his family's life.

The embattled former Customers intelligence officer took back his testimony six years ago to implicate three people with ties to the former president: president's eldest son, Vice President Sara Duterte's husband, and the president's former economic adviser.

Alongside his bombshell admission, Guban also recanted his statement accusing former police official Eduardo Acierto of owning the P11-billion shabu shipment during his trial for charges related to importing dangerous drugs. For this case, he was sentenced to life imprisonment last year.

All this was bared before the House mega-panel, which was created to fuse together the investigations being conducted by four House committees: dangerous drugs, public order & safety, human rights and public acounts.

How it all began

According to his affidavit submitted to the House panel on Friday, Guban recalled meeting a certain Davao First District Councilor Nilo Abillera Jr. called "Small" in 2017. This Davao councilor introduced himself to Guban as a "business partner and trusted associate of Michael Yang, Pulong Duterte... and Atty. Mans Carpio."

"Councilor Small Abellera requested me not to be so strict with their shipments. After that meeting, Councilor 'Small' always talked to me over the phone and sought my help in the release of their shipments to which l acceded," Guban said.

In mid-2018, Guban discovered a suspicious shipment by VECABA Trading, which turned out to be unaccredited with the Bureau of Customs.

Upon investigation, Guban said he found that the shipment was connected to Duterte, Yang and Carpio. During this time, 'Small' had reportedly reached out to Guban by phone to say: "Wag ikaw matakot kasi sila Mans Carpio, Pulong Duterte at Michael Yang ang may-ari niyang shipment (Don't be afraid because Mans Carpio, Pulong Duterte and Michael Yang owns that shipment)."

Guban, Acierto, Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency agents, and other authorities were eventually able to open the magnetic lifters and discover the illegal drugs stashed there. This then led to a Senate probe, where Guban said he was cited in contempt "despite the fact that I truthfully answered."

'Paul Gutierrez threatened me'

Guban told the House committee that it was a certain "Paul Gutierrez" who approached him while he was detained at the Senate to threaten him to stay silent about Duterte, Carpio and Yang's involvement.

"While I was detained at the Senate, a media personnel who introduced himself as Paul Gutierrez who worked as staff of Secretary Benny Antiporda, accompanied by a Blue Ribbon Committee staff, came to my room at the Senate where I was detained and threatened me," he said.

Guban said the life of his son was also included in the death threat.

He added that the night before the Senate hearing, he was called thrice by a certain Ms. Mangaoang of the Bureau of Customs.

"She asked me, 'Anong magagawa diyan sa shipment na yan? Kina pareng Benny Antiporda 'yan'(What can we do about the shipment? That belongs to Benny Antiporda)." Guban said.

"I replied to her 'Wala na akong magagawa, huli na'yan' (I can't do anything about that. It's already caught)," he said.

Despite being advised by former Sen. Richard Gordon to "tell the whole truth" during the Senate hearing, Guban ultimately withheld information about the three individuals' alleged involvement and blamed Acierto instead.

Credibility check

Rep. Robert Ace Barbers (Surigao del Sur, 2nd District), chair of the House dangerous drugs committee, said the committee will be taking its time to weigh the credibility of Guban's testimony.

"We will study. For now, we listen to him, and we will assess if the committee should believe his testimony," Barbers said in a mix of English and Filipino during an ambush interview.

"I don't want to say if it's credible or not credible... I have to decide on the collective basis of the committee," the lawmaker said, adding that it is the whole quad-committee that will craft the committee report. Barbers said that if Guban cannot present evidence to back what he claimed on Friday, the committee would not treat it as a serious accusation.

"We did not expect this. We expected that he would speak on an issue to ascertain the link of POGOs and drugs. But he had other revelations that I and other lawmakers believe deserve to be scrutinized," Barbers said.