MANILA, Philippines (Updated 12:44 p.m.)— The Quad Committee of the House of Representatives, composed of the Committees on Dangerous Drugs, Public Order and Safety, Human Rights, and Public Accounts resumed its joint inquiry into the connection of Philippine offshore gaming operators (POGOs) and the illegal drug trade on Wednesday, November 27.
The mega-panel, led by Committee on Dangerous Drugs chair Rep. Robert Ace Barbers (Surigao del Norte, 2nd District) with fellow members Committee on Public Accounts chair Joseph Stephen “Caraps” Paduano, Committee on Public Order and Safety chair Dan Fernandez, and Committee on Human Rights chair Bienvenido Abante, are also probing the connection of Philippine offshore gaming operators (POGOs) and the illegal drug trade.
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Senior Deputy Speaker Aurelio “Dong” Gonzales Jr., Deputy Speaker David “Jay-jay” Suarez and Committee on Transportation chair Romeo Acop are joining the inquiry.
Last November 13, the eleventh Quad Comm hearing, former President Rodrigo Duterte attended for the first time since repeated invites from the mega panel.
The hearing was supposed to be postponed then, but Quad Comm lead chair Barbers explained that the Quad Com decided to proceed with the hearing to take advantage of the presence of former Duterte even as the mega panel did not receive a formal notice from his legal counsel, Martin Delgra III on his attendance.
Duterte, through his legal counsel, earlier said that he is doubtful of the Quad Comm's, integrity, and probity to conduct the investigation. However, Barbers said the former president's attendance in the hearing quells his doubts about the mega panel.
The hours-long hearing that saw Duterte and attendance of resource persons former senators Leila De Lima, Sonny Trillanes III, human rights lawyers Chel Diokno Cassandra Conti and Neri Colmenares, as well as the relatives and families of the victims of extrajudicial killings, lasted until midnight.
During which, Duterte took full legal responsibility for the killings due to the war on drugs since he gave the directives for the program. He also admitted to rewarding police officers who conducted anti-illegal drug operations.
The former president also admitted that planting evidence was his strategy in apprehending drug suspects when he was still the mayor of Davao City.
Meanwhile, in the last hearing where POGO was tackled in September 27, Rep. Cheeno Miguel Almario (Davao, 2nd district) showed a documentary by Al Jazeera where Chinese tycoon She Zhijiang, currently detained in Thailand, claimed that just like him, Guo Hua Ping or Alice Guo, is a Chinese spy working for China’s Ministry of State security.
According to She, he was recruited in 2016 while in the Philippines. He said that Guo asked for campaign funds for her mayoral candidacy in Bamban, Tarlac in 2022.
In the same hearing, Guo denied these claims and expressed intent to sue She and Al Jazeera for releasing supposed false claims in the documentary.
Watch the hearing live on Nov. 27, 2024.