Former police colonel Edilberto Leonardo on Tuesday denied he received money to reward police officers who have killed drug personalities during the administration of former President Rodrigo Duterte.
At the continuation of the House QuadComm inquiry into the killings in the war on drugs, Leonardo was asked about retired Police Colonel Royina Garma’s testimony which placed him at the center of the nationwide implementation of the alleged Davao model on rewarding drug slays.
The cash rewards allegedly ranged from P20,000 to P1 million depending on the drug personality’s threat level.
Garma said that Leonardo had the final authority to determine who would be included on the list of drug personalities and to classify their threat levels, as well as the discretion to remove individuals from the list.
“Dine-deny ko po na tumanggap ako ng pera,” Leonardo said during the questioning of Laguna lawmaker Dan Fernandez.
(I deny that I received money.)
Fernandez then asked Leonardo if rewarding money to police officials for every drug suspect killed was true as Garma testified.
“Meron po akong naririnig, Mr. Chair. Pero wala po akong personal knowledge, Mr. Chair,” Leonardo said.
(I hear things to that effect, Mr. Chair. But I have no personal knowledge.)
Fernandez countered by saying that the reward system had been also confirmed by Police Colonel Jovie Espenido, among others.
Duterte recently said that he gave “allowances” to police officials after each successful anti-drug police operation. —NB, GMA Integrated News
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