MANILA, Philippines — The House of Representatives was kept busy in 2024, dealing both with political drama and innovations in its legislative function.
The biggest move that the lower chamber made for the year was the creation of the quad committee, a combination of the House committees on dangerous drugs, public accounts, public order and safety and human rights.
The quad comm’s investigation focused on the war on drugs of former president Rodrigo Duterte; the extrajudicial killings (EJKs) of thousands suspected of involvement in illegal drugs; and Philippine offshore gaming operations (POGOs), used by Chinese nationals for criminal activities including cyberscams, human trafficking, kidnap-for-ransom, torture and money-laundering.
Aside from the quad comm’s creation, another big step for the House in 2024 was the investigation initiated by the committee on good government and public accountability chaired by Manila 3rd District Rep. Joel Chua.
Chua’s committee focused its investigation into Vice President Sara Duterte’s alleged misuse of P612.5 million in confidential funds of the Office of the Vice President (OVP) and the Department of Education (DepEd), when she was still its secretary.
The quad comm, led by its lead chairman Surigao del Norte 2nd District Rep. Robert Ace Barbers conducted its first joint public hearings on EJKs, POGOs and war on drugs on Aug. 16 at the Villa Bacolor Convention Center in Bacolor, Pampanga.
The quad comm was authorized to conduct a comprehensive joint investigation into the possible connection between illegal POGOs, illegal drugs, EJKs and human rights violations in the course of former president Duterte’s bloody drug war.
Among the resource persons first invited to the quad comm’s first hearing were officials from the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), Philippine Statistics Authority, Department of Foreign Affairs and Bureau of Internal Revenue.
The quad comm likewise invited former Bureau of Customs intelligence officer Jimmy Guban to shed light on his submitted affidavit.
It also invited as resource persons former president Duterte, Senators Ronald dela Rosa, supposedly the chief architect of the drug war and Bong Go, the right-hand man and personal assistant of the former president to shed light on the issue.
Only Duterte appeared before the quad comm while Dela Rosa and Go consistently refused to attend the hearings.
Retired police colonel and former Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office general manager Royina Garma, who was believed to be personally close to Duterte, testified before the quad comm and revealed that the Duterte administration implemented a “reward system” for killers of drug personalities.
The reward money allegedly ranged from P10,000 to P1 million, depending on the level of the importance of the person to be killed.
During his testimony before the quad comm, Duterte denied the reward and quota system, but admitted that he himself had killed around six to seven people during his war against criminal elements in Davao City while he was still its mayor.
During its 13th and last hearing for the year on Dec. 12, the quad comm issued a yearend summary of its findings that includes some of the proposed measures that resulted from its investigations.
Senior Deputy Speaker Aurelio Gonzales listed the house bills that were crafted as a result of the hearings: HB 10986, or the proposed law on Classifying EJK as a Heinous Crime; HB 10987, the proposed Anti-Offshore Gaming Operations Act; HB 10998, the proposed Espionage Law of 2024; HB 11043, the proposed Civil Forfeiture Act; and HB 11117, the proposed Fraudulent Birth Certificate Cancellation Law.
Gonzales recalled calling for the creation of the quad comm when he delivered a privilege speech on Aug. 5 following the apparent links in the investigations into the P3.6 billion worth of shabu seized in Mexico, Pampanga; P1.3 billion worth of shabu discovered in Mabalacat City, Pampanga, and illegal activities linked to POGOs.
He vowed that the quad comm we will continue its work in January with even greater focus and determination, “Today, we only end the inquiry for the year; but we are already preparing for next year.”
Quad comm vice chair and Antipolo 2nd District Rep. Romeo Acop seconded Gonzales’ commitment.
Acop presented a report titled “A Tale of Two Shipments,” featuring the arrival in the country in 2017 of metal cylinders containing P6.4 billion worth of illegal drugs and the shipment in the country in 2018 of magnetic lifters containing P3.4 billion worth of illegal drugs.
It showed that the two shipments both arrived at the Manila International Container Port and allegedly involved some personalities.
“For the past 12 hearings, we have heard various testimonies of victims, their families, the police, the involved personalities who admitted their roles and participation, the cause-oriented groups, and those whose lives have changed forever due to an irreversible misstep they took that cost them their freedom,” Barbers, quad comm senior chair, said.
During its meeting, the quad comm cited in contempt former PDEA chief Wilkins Villanueva, which would be implemented when session resumes on Jan. 13, 2025.
Abang Lingkod party-list Rep. Joseph Paduano reminded Villanueva of his right to file a motion to lift the contempt order on him.
Also cited in contempt was police Col. Hector Grijaldo, who did not attend the hearing despite the quad comm’s repeated invitation.
The quad comm also lifted the contempt orders issued on Cassandra Ong, who filed a motion to lift the contempt and detention orders on her as she is sick and cannot be detained at the Correctional Institution for Women, which doctors of the CIW and the House confirmed that she is not fit to attend and withstand the congressional hearings; Alice Guo, now detained at the Pasig City Jail; Tony Yang, who is detained under the custody of the Philippine Anti-Organized Crime Commission, sick and currently confined at the St. Luke’s Medical Hospital in Taguig; and police Maj. Leo Laraga, under the custody of the Quezon City Jail.
Barbers said he would be presenting before the House plenary its initial report dubbed as “quad comm’s progress report” anytime this week.
Kill threat, impeachment
One of the most striking incidents that left a mark not only on congressmen, but also on the country and international community was when a desperate Vice President Duterte invaded the Batasang Pambansa complex by locking herself up at Room 304 of her brother Davao City Rep. Paolo Duterte.
Interestingly, the Vice President claimed that she would stay in the room of her brother until her chief of staff at the OVP, lawyer Zuleika Lopez, is given justice and released from detention at the House detention facility.
Lopez was ordered detained for contempt by Chua’s committee after she repeatedly “lied and evaded to give direct answers” to the members of the committee investigating the real meaning of her letter to the Commission on Audit asking it not to provide any documents pertaining to its use of the P500-million OVP and P112.5-million DepEd confidential funds, respectively.
The Vice President has consistently refused to recognize and attend the hearings of Chua’s committee.
What made matters worse was when the Vice President went on a Zoom press conference with members of the media covering the OVP threatening to kill President Marcos, First Lady Liza Marcos and Speaker Martin Romualdez while claiming that her own life was under threat.
The kill threat made by the Vice President is now the subject of investigation by the NBI.
Akbayan and the Makabayan party-list bloc in the chamber have filed separate impeachment complaints against the Vice President based on the pieces of evidence and testimonies from the resource people, who appeared in both the investigation conducted by quad comm and Chua’s committee.
Chua explained that ending the probe would allow the Armed Forces of the Philippines to conduct its investigation into allegations that two military officers received portions of the confidential funds from Duterte’s offices.