The House of Representatives Quad Committee wants the proper authorities to initiate a deeper investigation into the alleged involvement of Davao Rep. Paolo “Pulong” Duterte in the smuggling of illegal drugs.
In Davao City, Duterte maintained he was open to a probe as long as it is conducted by “an impartial and credible body,” adding, “I have nothing to hide.”
“I remain committed to clearing our name and [am] confident the truth will expose the baseless nature of these accusations,” Duterte said.
The quad committee also recommended the filing of charges against former President Rodrigo Duterte, Pulong’s father, and Senators Christopher “Bong” Go and Ronald dela Rosa over the alleged extrajudicial killings during the war on drugs of the Duterte administration.
Quadcomm chair Rep. Ace Barbers made the call to investigate the younger Duterte on Wednesday as he delivered the committee’s progress report which was a product of 13 exhaustive hearings.
The panel looked into the proliferation of illegal drugs, extrajudicial killings and the rise of Chinese syndicates linked to Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs) during the Duterte administration.
Barbers said the probe should not be limited to persons implicated in the drug trade by resource persons Jimmy Guban and Mark Taguba.
Aside from Representative Duterte, also tagged in the drug trade were Nilo Abellera Jr., Paul Gutierrez, Benny Antiporda, Jojo Bacud, Tita Nanie and Allen Capuyan.
But Pulong Duterte brushed aside the testimonies of the resource persons, saying they were “obtained under the guise of a witness protection program in exchange for furloughs, lacked credibility, and only undermined the integrity of any legitimate inquiry.”
Categorical denial
During the first hearing of the quad committee in August, Guban, a former Bureau of Customs (BoC) intelligence officer, implicated Duterte, his brother-in-law Mans Carpio — the husband of Vice President Sara Duterte — and Michael Yang, former president Duterte’s economic adviser, in the smuggling of P11-billion worth of shabu hidden in magnetic lifters at the Manila International Container Port in 2018.
In November, Mark Taguba, an erstwhile BoC “fixer,” faced the quad committee and stood by his testimony made before the Senate in 2017 that Polong Duterte, Carpio and other members of the so-called “Davao Group” were behind the smuggled P6.4-billion worth of shabu seized in Valenzuela City in 2017.
Guban and Taguba are currently serving jail time for their alleged involvement in the narcotics trade.
The two narrated to lawmakers how shipments bypassed inspections through the “tara system” in the BoC where drug shipments were allowed to pass screening in exchange for bribes.
Pulong Duterte has categorically denied knowing Guban, insisting that they never had any transactions. The lawmaker has filed perjury charges against Guban.
“This is just the first step in ensuring accountability for those who spread falsehoods and attempt to tarnish reputations with fabricated stories,” he said.
Duterte challenged the leadership of Congress to also probe those listed in the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) watchlist during his father’s presidency.
“This includes scrutinizing their own members, especially those whose family members have been implicated in drug activities,” Rep. Duterte asserted.
Rep. Duterte and Carpio are facing criminal complaints before the Department of Justice over the smuggled shabu in Valenzuela. The complaint was lodged by former Senator Antonio Trillanes IV, a staunch critic of the Dutertes.