MANILA, Philippines — House of Representatives leaders reminded Sen. Ronald dela Rosa that the investigation being conducted by the quad committee is “in aid of legislation,” contrary to the claims of the senator that it is “in aid of persecuting” former president Rodrigo Duterte.
House committee on overseas workers affairs chairman and Tingog party-list Rep. Jude Acidre said the main purpose of the quad comm is to hold the people, especially those in government service, accountable for their misdeeds.
“I think the intention is to hold people accountable, to make sure that the laws that we have passed are executed and implemented well. I think in this case, we could see that there are many laws cropping up. There are some proposed measures that are being filed and we could see that the hearings that we are conducting here in Congress are in aid of legislation,” he explained.
Zambales 1st District Rep. Jefferson Khonghun, chairman of the House committee on bases conversion, said that in its 13 hearings so far, the quad comm strictly observed the rules on testimonies.
“All of these investigations are in aid of legislation. We are going to formulate laws to avoid these things from happening again,” Khonghun said, referring to extrajudicial killings, illegal drug trade and Philippine offshore gaming operations.
Meanwhile, House Deputy Majority Leader and La Union 1st District Rep. Francisco Paolo Ortega V said Dela Rosa is entitled to express his opinion about the quad comm hearings.
House detains Grijaldo
Meanwhile, former Mandaluyong police chief Col. Hector Grijaldo is now in the custody of the House and detained at its detention facility since Dec. 14, quad committee lead chairman and Surigao del Norte Rep. Robert Ace Barbers said yesterday.
In an interview with reporters on the sidelines of Congress’ yearend get-together, Barbers said the House sergeant-at-arms, with the help of the Philippine National Police (PNP), served and implemented the arrest order for contempt on Grijaldo while he was undergoing a medical check-up at the Pasig City General Hospital.
“We asked the assistance of the PNP and our House Sergeant-at-Arms to implement the contempt order and detain Col. Grijaldo,” Barbers said.
He noted that Grijaldo was pretending to be seriously ill and wanted hospital arrest.
“We did not allow that because his doctors said that he is ambulatory. He can be released from the hospital, he can already walk and he does not need to stay in the hospital. That is why we served… the arrest order against him. We implemented the order,” Barbers said.
He said Grijaldo and his camp had not filed any appeal on the detention order for contempt imposed by the quad comm against him.
“He needs to explain many things to us. I did not receive any appeal from his end. He will spend Christmas and New Year at the House of Representatives detention facility,” Barbers said.
“We might have two to three days (of) hearing in January at the quad comm. The motion approved by the committee members is to detain him (Grijaldo) until we terminate the quad comm hearing. It looks like he will spend the holidays here,” he added.
Grijaldo was held in contempt during the 13th hearing of the quad comm on Dec. 12, on motion by Abang Lingkod party-list Rep. Stephen Paduano for snubbing the hearing of the quad comm for four consecutive times.
The former police official accused quad comm members Sta. Rosa, Laguna Rep. Dan Fernandez and Manila 6th District Rep. Benny Abante of coercing him to corroborate the claims of former Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office general manager and former police colonel Royina Garma about the alleged “reward system” implemented for the hit men of suspected drug personalities under Duterte’s war on drugs.