Quad Comm asks NBI to probe 2016 Davao killings

The House Quad Committee called on the National Bureau of Investigation to investigate the 2016 murder of three suspected Chinese drug lords, allegedly upon the orders of former President Rodrigo Duterte.

Antipolo City Rep. Romeo Acop asked the NBI to probe the killings of Chu Kin Tung, Li Lan Yan, and Wong Meng Pin at the Davao Prison and Penal Farm (DPPF).

“May I move that the NBI should conduct an investigation and get all the pieces of evidence and documents given to this committee so that they can file the necessary charges against those people who should be charged because of this crime?” Acop said.

Quad Committee co-chairman Rep. Robert Ace Barbers took note of Acop’s motion, adding that there was no objection to it.

Former DPPF warden Supt. Gerardo Padilla earlier accused Duterte of ordering the killings of the three suspected Chinese drug lords.

In his supplemental affidavit, Padilla confirmed the testimony of one of the hitmen, Leopoldo “Tata” Tan Jr., that Duterte gave the order and that retired police colonel and ex-PCSO general manager Royina Garma orchestrated the murders.

Padilla, currently the head of the Directorate for Reformation of the Bureau of Corrections in New Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa City, said the former President even thanked him for a “job well done” after the inmates were killed.

He said Duterte called him after Tan and Fernando “Andy” Magdadaro stabbed the three Chinese drug lords on the night of Aug. 13, 2016.

“I confirm what Tata said when we were going to the investigation section, my cell phone rang, and I answered it. The person who called me was former President Rodrigo Roa Duterte and said: ‘Congratulations, Superintendent Padilla, job well done. But what was done was terrible, it was made to bleed,’” Padilla said.

Surigao del Sur Rep. Johnny Pimentel, for his part, said at least four witnesses have identified Garma as the one directly giving instructions or coordinating the operation to eliminate the three Chinese nationals.

The witnesses include Padilla, the two self-confessed hitmen, and former policeman Jimmy Fortaleza — Garma’s classmate at the Philippine National Police Academy.

Editor’s Note: This is an updated article. Originally posted with the headline “House Quad Comm urges NBI to probe 2016 Davao prison killings implicating Duterte.”