RPPe Quad Comm chairs: Probe not a ‘demolition job’ vs ex-President Duterte

“Kung mayroong, along the way, ay may tatamaan, may masasagasaan, kung ‘yan ang katotohanan, ‘yan po ang aming ilalabas.”

Thus declared Surigao del Norte Rep. Robert Ace Barbers, as he and fellow Quad Comm panel co-chairman Sta. Rosa Rep. Dan Fernandez denied that the probe into the EJKs during the Duterte administration is a demolition job against the former President.

“Ako, para sa akin, they can say whatever they want to say. Mula nag-umpisa itong Quad Comm, marami na pong bumabatikos, sinasabi nila na ito daw ay politically motivated, ito daw ay witch hunt, ito daw ay walang patutunguhan,” Barbers said in a Zoom press conference Friday.

“Para sa amin sa Quad Comm, naniniwala kami na ang aming layunin ay ilabas ang katotohanan. Hindi dahil sa may mga nabanggit ng personalidad, kundi to ferret out the truth on the issues of EJK at saka yung smuggling of illegal drugs,” he added.

Former presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo described it as "demolition job" on the Dutertes the linking of ex-President Rodrigo Duterte to the murders of three Chinese detainees in Davao in 2016, according to two inmates who testified before the Quad Comm on Thursday.

Fernandez said the Quad Comm probe on EJKs and illegal drugs did not just start recently as the separate committees comprising the Quad Comm have been investigating these issues as early as last year.

“Ngayon kung sinasabi nilang political harassment ‘yan, na may demolition job ‘yan, well actually hindi naman namin talaga kasalanan kung ‘yung mga nakukuha naming mga ebidensya na pumapasok sa amin, nagli-lead doon sa kanila,” Fernandez said.

“We still remember the time when the former president was always saying ‘papatayin kita, ihuhulog kita sa helicopter, mga things like that.’ It's not our fault that these people na nag-wi-witness are trying to tell all just right now,” Fernandez said.

“Kasi siguro ang feeling nila during that time, hindi nila masasabi because they (Dutertes) were in power. Now na siguro na nakita nila na … naghiwalay yung partidong Uniteam, siguro nakakita sila ng window that somehow with this kind of political climate in our country na nagkahiwalay, nagkaroon sila na opportunity to air their grievances,” Fernandez added. 

Fernandez said that what they just do in the Quad Comm hearings is hear and receive evidence presented to them and not engage in a demolition job as Panelo accuses.

“Kami naman dito, tinatanggap namin po yung mga ebidensiya na dumadating sa amin because basically kung titignan naman yung kanilang mga inihaing mga testimoniya, makikita mo namang may link,” Fernandez said.

“And the reason why we are pursuing this, not because it is a political harassment or tinatawag nila na demolition. I don't want to be a part of any demolition job,” he added.

Fernando “Andy” Magdadaro and fellow inmate Leopoldo Tan Jr.’ claimed they killed three Chinese individuals, who were convicted of drug charges, on the orders of the former president, further saying they each received P1 million for the murders. 

Tan and Magdadaro implicated former President Duterte in the 2016 killings of three convicted Chinese drug lords inside the maximum security facility of the Davao Prison and Penal Farm (DPPF) in Davao del Norte.

They were the latest witnesses presented before the House quad-committee, which is investigating, among other issues, the extrajudicial killings (EJKs) associated with the Duterte administration’s brutal war on drugs.

During the quad-committee’s second public hearing on Thursday, Tan and Magdadaro provided their testimonies, and sworn statements detailing the events leading to their killing of three Chinese drug lords in 2016 in exchange for money and promised freedom. 

The three EJK victims—Chu Kin Tung, alias Tony Lim; Li Lan Yan, alias Jackson Li; and Wong Meng Pin, alias Wang Ming Ping—were serving sentences for their involvement in illegal drug activities and who were in a separate, heavily secured area within the prison, with two of them previously convicted for operating a drug laboratory in Parañaque City. (END)