A former warden of a Davao City jail on Wednesday directly implicated former President Rodrigo Duterte in the killing of three suspected Chinese drug lords in 2016.

Former Davao Prison and Penal Farm (DPPF) Superintendent Gerardo Padilla, who had previously denied involvement in the operation to kill the Chinese nationals, revealed before the House quad committee that the order came from then Criminal Investigation and Detection Group Deputy Chief Royina Garma.

Garma was appointed Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office general manager by Duterte in June 2019.

Hesitant at first, Padilla later said Duterte was the “bigger person” behind Garma’s directive to him.

At first Padilla said in Filipino in response to a query by Manila Rep. Bienvenido Abante Jr., one of the panel’s chairpersons, “I’m not implicating anyone, but they were under the control of higher authorities.”

Asked by Abante if the “higher person” was Duterte, Padilla replied, “Yes, your honor.”

Padilla was earlier tagged by three persons deprived of liberty (PDL) — Leopoldo Tan, Fernando “Andy” Magdadaro, and Jimmy Fortaleza — as the high-ranking cop who ordered them to permanently silence Chinese drug lords Chu Kin Tung, Jackson Lee and Peter Wang.

Tan and Magdadaro earlier told the panel that they stabbed the three Chinese to death inside the DPPF disciplinary dormitory or “bartolina” on the evening of 13 August 2016 in exchange for P1 million each and their liberty that was guaranteed by the police.

Tan said he overheard Padilla afterwards talking to someone over the phone, supposedly Duterte, who congratulated him on a “job well done.”

During the previous hearing on 28 August, Padilla vehemently belied the testimonies of the PDLs and the allegation that he had conversed with Garma. This denial led to his being held in contempt.

In Wednesday’s hearing, however, Padilla recanted his previous statement.