MANILA, Philippines — The House Quad Committee postponed its eleventh hearing into the war on drugs, originally scheduled for Wednesday, November 13, just before former President Rodrigo Duterte’s spokesperson announced that he and Duterte would attend.
Rep. Robert Ace Barbers (Surigao del Norte, 2nd District), who chairs the mega panel, said at a press conference on Tuesday, November 12, that the committee has contemplated rescheduling the eleventh hearing since last week.
The joint committee formalized its decision to cancel the hearing and reschedule it for November 21 at 6:30 p.m. on Monday, November 11, in order to allow more time to interview and vet the credibility of resource persons.
“But we had already been discussing this since last week because our vetting of witnesses has been ongoing. So we decided that we would likely run out of time before we could finish interviewing those who wish to testify,” Barbers said in a mix of English and Filipino.
No formal confirmation
However, the timing of the cancellation was questioned, as Duterte’s former spokesperson, Salvador Panelo, announced in a Facebook livestream at 10:27 p.m. on November 11 (timestamp 00:17:30) that they would be attending the hearing on Wednesday.
“On Wednesday, the day after tomorrow, former President Rodrigo Roa Duterte will attend the Quad Committee hearing regarding that extrajudicial killing,” Panelo said in a mix of English and Filipino.
As of Tuesday morning, Barbers said the committee has not yet received formal confirmation from Duterte or his legal counsel that the former president will be attending the now-canceled eleventh hearing.
Barbers said that the committee only learned of Duterte’s supposed attendance from social media late last night.
“And as of now, as I speak, we have not received any confirmation coming from the former President that he is attending if we will push through with the Wednesday committee hearing. So far, there’s none. It’s only on social media,” Barbers said in a mix of English and Filipino.
Even as of press time, Secretary Reginald Velasco told Philstar.com that no confirmation of Duterte’s attendance was received.
Timing concerns
The Committee Secretariat was instructed at 6:30 p.m. on Monday evening to issue the notice of cancelation to Quad Comm members, resource persons and government agencies through email and Viber.
According to a document of timestamps provided to the media, Duterte’s personnel messaged the Quad Comm’s staff via Viber at 6:44 p.m. to verify the cancelation, to which the staff confirmed it was true.
A formal cancelation notice was also sent by email to Duterte’s legal counsel, Martin Delgra III — who was invited as a separate resource person — at 9:23 p.m. Barbers said that it was only at 7:14 a.m. on Tuesday that Delgra responded to the email.
According to Velasco, Delgra’s response was only a confirmation for himself as a resource person, but not for Duterte.
Meanwhile, the notice for the former president himself was relayed just minutes after Panelo’s announcement, sent through Delgra via email at 10:35 p.m. However, Delgra and Duterte’s staff had already received the notice much earlier than the announcement.
For Barbers, he believes the two-day notice — which is actually just a little over a day, considering when resource persons were notified — “is enough time for them to decide whether to attend or not.”
The Quad Comm chair also said that no resource person had confirmed their attendance for Wednesday and that the cancelation emails had been acknowledged by them.
“So when we sent the cancelation notice, we knew that they all received it, they acknowledged it and no one said they would attend. Instead of proceeding with the hearing on Wednesday when we weren’t ready and our witnesses weren’t prepared, it would be a waste of the day,” Barbers explained.
What if Duterte confirmed his attendance earlier?
Even if a resource person had formally confirmed before the mega panel formally canceled the hearing on Monday evening, Barbers said they would maintain their decision and would not adjust their schedule for anyone.
However, for Duterte, the Quad Comm chair said that if a formal confirmation had been received, there would have been a possibility that the hearing would not have been postponed.
Rep. Dan Fernandez (Santa Rosa, Lone District) mentioned at the press conference that he had suggested proceeding with the eleventh hearing on Wednesday, even if Duterte was the only resource person.
“But unfortunately, the resource persons were already informed, such as the victims who were traveling here again. Of course, there are their transportation costs and accommodation as well,” he said in a mix of English and Filipino.
If the joint committee were to proceed, even after sending out the notice of cancelation, Fernandez said it would be “breaking their own rules.”
Asked if the Quad Comm believed Duterte’s camp intentionally confirmed attendance after the cancelation notice was sent at 6:44 p.m., Fernandez said yes, noting they were being made to look like the committee was “backing out” and avoiding the former president.
However, he added that the committee had given Duterte several opportunities to attend before the eleventh hearing, even when only the human rights committee was investigating the extrajudicial killings related to his war on drugs months ago.
Duterte’s first absence was on October 22. Delgra said he was feeling unwell and preferred to attend after November 1. His second absence was on November 7. Delgra said Duterte refused to attend mainly because he believes that the Quad Comm had plans to indict him.
Resource persons, including Duterte, now have to confirm their attendance for the hearing on November 21, Barbers said.
The former president is facing allegations of implementing a nationwide reward system for the killing of drug suspects. His war on drugs campaign has led to approximately 6,000 extrajudicial killings, according to government data. However, human rights groups estimate the figure to be around 30,000.
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