December 11, 2024 | 12:00am
MANILA, Philippines — The quad committee of the House of Representatives will recommend charges against 10 retired and active government officials for their alleged involvement in Philippine offshore and gaming operators (POGOs), extrajudicial killings (EJKs) and illegal drugs, quad comm chairman Surigao del Norte Rep. Robert Ace Barbers said yesterday.
He explained that the recommendation to file charges against the former and active government officials will be part of the committee’s “progress report” that panel members are scheduled to approve in tomorrow’s hearing.
The quad comm is coordinating with the Department of Justice (DOJ), the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and the Office of the Ombudsman regarding its recommendations.
“This will be included in the initial report of the quad comm. We have to finalize our recommendation on Thursday and present it before the plenary for the approval of the entire members of the House of Representatives,” Barbers said.
He earlier said they are bound to wrap up their investigation into the illegal operations of POGOs.
The progress report will enable concerned government agencies to conduct further investigation on whether the pieces of evidence gathered during the panel’s probe will merit the filing of charges.
“We will still conduct an investigation on the EJKs and drugs,” Barbers said.
The quad comm is eyeing 15 to 20 pieces of remedial legislation for filing once its progress report is finalized on Thursday.
“We want these pieces of legislation to be part of the legislative agenda of our President. We hope that it will be certified as urgent by the President so that our counterpart in the Senate will also act,” Barbers explained.
He added that the progress report intends to “dispose” of the investigations on POGOs, EJKs and drugs so they can tackle other pressing issues in the quad comm.
“Even after the Christmas season, when we resume, the quad comm will still continue its investigation. Our progress report is based on what we have already sufficiently covered in the issue of EJKs, drugs and POGOs. But this is not to say that we will stop,” Barbers said.
There are still some issues that the quad comm feels they will have to tackle before finally terminating the panel hearings, according to Barbers.
“We need to submit it so that it will be approved in the committee before we can ask other agencies concerned to take cognizance of this report. For example, we have recommendations to the DOJ and the NBI. They have to act on it based on the committee report that was approved by the plenary,” he expounded.
“The action of the plenary is needed, so that it will become legitimate, it will become the sense of the majority of the members of the House,” he further stated.
In August, the House of Representatives formed the quad comm to identify the links between POGO, Chinese syndicates, the illegal drug trade and EJKs in the country during the administration of former president Rodrigo Duterte.
The quad comm is composed of the following panels: dangerous drugs committee, headed by Barbers; human rights committee, headed by Manila 6th District Rep. Bienvenido Abante; public accounts committee, headed by Abang Lingkod party-list Rep. Joseph Stephen Paduano and public order and safety committee, headed by Santa Rosa, Laguna Rep. Dan Fernandez.
Barbers explained that the four committees have “overlapping and commonalities” in the issues they are discussing.
“There seems to be a criminal organization operating within the country where drug money is being used to corrupt certain government officials in order to secure fake and spurious documents to misrepresent themselves as Filipinos to be able to acquire properties or lands in the country… where legitimate fronts of POGOs are being built,” he explained.
Abante also justified the inclusion of his committee – as well as the subject of EJKs – into the quad comm.
“Number one, there might be a quota system in the Philippine National Police… That means there is a reward system. That means if you kill a drug pusher, you get a reward,” Abante explained. “We would like to find out where the money is coming from, because we found out, that’s POGO money, that’s gambling money.”
The quad comm has invited Duterte, Senators Ronald Dela Rosa and Bong Go to appear before the panel to shed light on the former administration’s bloody war on drugs, but only Duterte faced the committee’s investigation.
During the sixth hearing of the quad comm, former Iloilo city mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog claimed that Duterte’s controversial narco-list was weaponized to target his political rivals, which included him.
Mabilog went into self-exile in the US after he was included in the Duterte drug watch list and hit list. He has denied any involvement in illegal drugs.
Harry Roque, former presidential spokesman, and his wife Mylah went into hiding after they were linked by witnesses to illegal POGOs in Bamban, Tarlac. The couple were last reported to have fled to Dubai.
Former Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office general manager and police colonel Royina Garma claimed that the Duterte administration has implemented a reward system for EJKs and the killing of people involved in illegal drugs.
Several other personalities have appeared before the House panel who include, among others, former Bamban, Tarlac mayor Alice Guo, later on identified as a Chinese national by the name of Guo Hua Ping, and Cassandra Li Ong. — Keisha Ta-asan, Cecille Suerte Felipe
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