Ex-cop backs inmates' claims of Chinese drug lords' execution in Davao prison

MANILA, Philippines — An incarcerated former policeman on Wednesday corroborated the earlier testimonies of two inmates on the execution of three Chinese drug lords inside the Davao penal colony in August 2016.

Former policeman Jimmy Fortaleza supported the testimonies of Leopoldo Tan Jr. and Fernando Magdadaro regarding their claim of the murder of three Chinese drug lords in the same quad committee hearing.

In his testimony, Fortaleza recalled that in July 2016, he was visited by Lt. Col. Royina Garma, Chief Insp. Roland Vilela and Col. Hector Grijaldo, who were his classmates at the PNP Academy.

Fortaleza claimed that Garma asked where the Chinese drug lords were detained and he informed her that the three were in the “foreigner’s quarters.”

Garma told Fortaleza that she had an operation among the Chinese drug lords before leaving.

In August 2016, Fortaleza noted that Garma phoned him as she wanted to talk with Supt. Gerardo Padilla. Fortaleza then brought the phone to Padilla so he and Garma could talk.

This was followed by a commotion at the foreigners’ quarters due to “searching” that resulted in the three Chinese drug lords being transferred to an isolation cell where the three were killed by Magdadaro and Tan.

Fortaleza’s testimony made the lawmakers grill Padilla on suspicion that he was involved in the killing even as he denied he knew the whereabouts of the Chinese nationals.

Quad committee co-chair Surigao del Norte Rep. Robert Ace Barbers said Padilla’s answers “compel the panel to believe and conclude that he was lying.”

“It’s just two things, Supt. Padilla, you are either incompetent… or you have something to do with the crime that happened right in your house,” Barbers said.— Emmanuel Tupas, Cecille Suerte Felipe