December 12, 2024 | 4:31pm
MANILA, Philippines — The House Quad Committee cited police colonel Hector Grijaldo in contempt for skipping the hearings for the fourth time on Thursday, December 12, ordering his detention.
The mega panel said the former Mandaluyong City Police chief failed to provide a valid excuse this time.
Rep. Pammy Zamora (Taguig, 2nd District) initiated the motion to cite him in contempt, saying that the committee had given Grijaldo “enough leeway.”
Meanwhile, Rep. Zia Adiong (Lanao del Sur, 1st District) moved to have Grijaldo detained at the House of Representatives as a penalty.
The motions were quickly seconded and approved by the committee.
Absent since the Senate hearing
Lawmakers found the time Grijaldo spent to recover from a shoulder surgery had been too long, comparing it to the experience of some members who said it only took them a few days.
Police lieutenant colonel Lionel Garcia, chief of the orthopedic department of the Philippine National Police (PNP) General Hospital, said Grijaldo was “awake, coherent, cooperative and ambulatory” when a team assessed his condition on December 5.
Three days earlier, Garcia said Grijaldo had undergone shoulder arthroscopic surgery.
According to Garcia, the former city police chief also had post-operative activities for one day and later underwent bedside physiotherapy.
Asked whether Grijaldo could attend the hearings considering his condition, Garcia said he “may” but it would also depend on his attending physician’s decision since Grijaldo could have an underlying condition.
“Hindi po namin nakita ‘yung kaniyang medical record, which is hindi kami pinayagan ng hospital,” He added.
(We haven’t seen his medical record, which the hospital did not allow.)
Grijaldo previously used his rotator cuff syndrome to excuse himself from the hearings.
At one hearing he missed, he mentioned undergoing a medical procedure; and on another, he referred to being “ambulatory” or temporarily unable to walk.
Grijaldo was a colleague of retired police colonel Royina Garma, who introduced him to the committee.
Allegations. Garma told the lawmakers, particularly Rep. Bienvenido Abante (Manila, 6th District) and Rep. Dan Fernandez (Santa Rosa, Lone District), that Grijaldo could corroborate her testimony on former President Rodrigo Duterte’s alleged drug war reward system.
While he did confirm this, Grijaldo made a complete 180-turn at the Senate’s parallel inquiry on October 28.
The former city police chief accused Abante and Fernandez of coercing him to confirm Garma’s affidavits.
This, however, was already disputed by two lawyers present at the said meeting Grijaldo had with Garma, Abante and Fernandez.
RELATED: Garma’s lawyers refute coercion claims in Grijaldo’s drug war reward system testimony
Fernandez previously said that Grijaldo was invited to attend the hearings after informing lawmakers that he had knowledge of the reward system that incentivized police to kill drug suspects.
However, Grijaldo also served as the city police chief when Wesley Barayuga, the former Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office board secretary, was assassinated in 2020 over alleged involvement in the illegal drug trade.
The Quad Comm moved to invite Grijaldo’s attending physician to the next hearing.
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