House issues show-cause order to Grijaldo

The House Quad Committee has issued a show-cause order to police Colonel Hector Grijaldo after he skipped its investigation on Thursday into the Duterte administration’s controversial drug war.

Grijaldo had previously participated in a parallel Senate probe. He did not provide the House panel an excuse letter, but submitted a medical certification through his lawyer, claiming that he was suffering from shoulder pain, among other issues.

Deputy Speaker David Suarez questioned the authenticity of the medical certificate, pointing out that it did not have a date.

“On another page of his medical certificate, again there is no date in the letter that he has forwarded to the committee. So I would just like to find out, Mr. Chair, is this verified and true?” Suarez said.

In the Senate’s parallel investigation, which began on 28 October, Grijaldo testified under oath that Quad Committee co-chairs Dan Fernandez and Bienvenido Abante Jr. tried to coerce him into corroborating claims that former President Rodrigo Duterte had provided financial incentives to police officers who killed drug suspects.

Both Fernandez and Abante have denied the allegation, asserting that they only acted on a recommendation of retired police Colonel Royina Garma that they meet with Grijaldo who supposedly knew about the cash reward system.

Garma had earlier revealed in the House probe that the monetary rewards ranged from P20,000 to P1 million, depending on the prominence of the target.

She said the scheme was modeled after the “Davao template” — a practice supposedly developed during Duterte’s tenure as Davao City mayor in which police officers were rewarded for killing criminals.