No demolition job against former president Duterte — House quad committee

The House quad committee belied claims on Friday that its ongoing probe into the alleged crime against humanity of the previous administration is a "demolition job" aimed at tarnishing former president Rodrigo Duterte.

Surigao del Norte Rep. Ace Barbers, the designated chairperson of the four panels, categorically denied such allegations, contending their objective is merely heavily centered on unmasking the truth regardless of whoever would be involved.

"They can say whatever they want. Since the quad comm started, there have been many critics. They say it is politically motivated, it is a witchhunt, it is going nowhere," Barbers told reporters in Filipino in a Zoom press conference.

"If someone gets hit along the way, someone gets run over, if that's the truth, then that's what we'll reveal," the veteran lawmaker added.

Barbers' remarks came on the heels of Duterte's former spokesperson Salvador Panelo's allegations that the latest hearing of the quad comm on Thursday, where two prisoners implicated the former president as the one who ordered to kill of three big-time Chinese drug lords in Davao jail in 2016, is a "demolition job" to "destroy" the Dutertes.

“The enemies of FPRRD are using convicted felons of murders and drug trafficking to link him to the murders of the 3 Chinese detainees of which they were the perpetrators on the basis of their bare allegations," Panelo said.

“Obviously, they (are) making those statements for a consideration. If it is true as they say that they killed the 3 Chinese in exchange for money and release from prison, necessarily they can lie about FPRRD’s alleged link to the murders for the same consideration of money and freedom coming from those who want to destroy the Dutertes,” he added.

At Thursday's hearing, inmate Leopoldo Tan disclosed that he was asked by his former classmate, SPO4 Arthur "Art" Narsolis, who was then assigned at the Philippine National Police-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (PNP-CIDG)-11 in Davao City, to permanently silenced Chu Kin Tung, Jackson Lee, and Peter Wang in exchange for P1 million each or P3 million in total.

Tan executed the crime inside Davao Prison and Penal Farm Disciplinary Dormitory or "bartolina" with the assistance of fellow inmate, Fernando "Andy" Magdadaro.

They detailed that they stabbed to death the three Chinese nationals on the night of 13 August 2016, merely one month after Duterte took office.

Tan and Magdadaro told the panel that they committed the crime in compliance with their deal with the police, who promised to facilitate their release from prison apart from giving them incentives.

Tan, who is in prison on drug-related charges, claimed that after the execution of the crime, he overheard jail superintendent Gerardo Padilla talking to someone over the phone, allegedly Duterte, who congratulated him for a “job well done.”

According to Barbers, the sole objective of the inquiry is not a personal affront to the erstwhile chief executive.

"For us at quad comm, we believe that our goal is to bring out the truth. Not because of the personalities mentioned, but to ferret out the truth on the issues of EJK and then the smuggling of illegal drugs," he said.

Santa Rosa Rep. Dan Fernandez, chairperson of the House Committee on Public Order that comprises the quad comm, echoed Barbers' explanation.

Fernandez pointed out that the congressional probe on the extrajudicial killings and illegal drugs did not just start recently as the separate committees comprising the quad comm have been investigating these issues as far as last year.

"Now if they say it's political harassment, that there's a demolition job, well actually it's not really our fault if the evidence we get lead to them," he told reporters in Filipino.

The quad comm, composed of Barbers' and Fernandez's panel along with the Committees on Human Rights and Public Accounts,  was designed to identify the possible links between illegal Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators, illicit drug trade, and the alleged EJK of the Duterte administration, which reportedly resulted in the deaths of 7,000 people. 

Local and international human rights organizations, however, estimated that the death toll exceeded 30,000, affecting predominantly low-income families and communities.