The House Quad Committee has issued a warning to Irmina “Muking” Espino, a long-time aide of Senator Christopher “Bong” Go, of a potential contempt citation—or even an arrest order—if she once again ignores its summons to testify in its investigation into the Duterte administration’s drug war.
Espino did not attend the panel’s ninth hearing on 23 October, though she testified at the Senate’s parallel inquiry on Monday.
Quad Comm co-chair Dan Fernandez stated that, according to the committee’s procedures, an arrest order will be issued against Espino if she fails to appear at the next hearing scheduled for 6 November.
"Most likely she will come because she knows [the Quad Comm’s] procedure. First, is to an invitation, then a show cause order, and then afterward, [she’ll be] cited in contempt," Fernandez told reporters on Tuesday.
During earlier quad comm hearings, retired police colonel Royina Garma implicated Espino in her affidavit, alleging that she helped Go manage cash rewards supposedly distributed by former president Rodrigo Duterte to police officers in exchange for killing drug suspects.
According to Garma, Espino acted as the disbursing officer for the rewards, coordinating with her and former National Police Commission chief Edilberto Leonardo, who was allegedly assigned by Duterte to lead a task force overseeing these operations.
In her testimony before the Senate, Espino denied Garma’s claims, stating her role was limited to supplying office materials, equipment, and fuel for Davao City precinct commanders.
Garma, said to be a former member of the Davao Death Squad and a trusted aide of Duterte, testified under oath that the Duterte administration’s anti-drug operations included a system that rewarded police for killing drug suspects, with monetary rewards ranging from P20,000 to P1 million, depending on the target’s prominence.
She described the system as following the “Davao model” allegedly developed during Duterte’s time as Davao City mayor. Garma further claimed that police officers were only eligible for the compensation if they killed the suspects, discouraging arrests and incentivizing fatal outcomes.