House of Representatives Quad Committee (Quad Comm) lead chairperson Ace Barbers on Sunday decried accusations of grave abuse of discretion in detaining P/Col. Hector Grijaldo during the Christmas season.
“Why do they only discuss the Quad Comm’s alleged abuse for citing him in contempt? Why not talk about his abuse of lying and slandering the members of the quad committee?” Barbers said in an interview. “Why don’t they look at what their colleague did to get him cited in contempt?”
Grijaldo, who claimed in a Senate hearing in October that he was coerced by two committee co-chairs — Sta. Rosa Rep. Dan Fernandez and Manila Rep. Bienvenido Abante Jr. — to testify against former president Rodrigo Duterte, is currently detained at the House detention facility and will remain there until the Quad Comm’s hearing concludes next year.
Unlike other personalities who were detained but ordered released by the panel in the “spirit of Christmas,” Grijaldo will remain detained for defying the panel’s summons to attend the hearing four times.
The police officer cited various medical conditions for his repeated absences from the hearings, the most recent being a shoulder surgery for a torn rotator cuff.
Philippine National Police (PNP) General Hospital chief orthopedic Police Lieutenant Colonel Lionel Garcia told lawmakers during the recent hearing that upon examination, Grijaldo was “awake, coherent, cooperative, and ambulatory,” indicating that he was not physically incapacitated from attending the legislative hearing.
Members of the panel expressed skepticism about his excuses, asserting that he was merely trying to evade accountability after implicating Fernandez and Abante in pressuring him to corroborate the testimony of retired police colonel Royina Garma regarding alleged monetary rewards given to police in exchange for killing drug suspects during Duterte’s war on drugs.
For Barbers, Grijaldo’s contempt was a consequence of his alleged false accusations in the Senate.
“The question is, why are you avoiding facing the quad comm? Is it because the lies you told before the Senate will be exposed? You must stand by that if you are a brave policeman. You are even a colonel,” the lawmaker argued.
Barbers said Grijaldo’s camp is free to contest the committee’s decision before the Supreme Court. However, he cited reports reaching his office that even Grijaldo’s colleagues in the PNP were unsupportive of his actions toward the congressional hearing.
"We are not perfect. We may also make mistakes, but we accept that. But Colonel Grijaldo must also bear responsibility. You should stand up, too. You can't just hide,” he said.
Earlier, PCol. Rowena Acosta, PNP’s chief of the Personal Holding and Accounting Unit of the Director of Personnel and Records Management, confirmed that Grijaldo has an ongoing administrative case for neglect of duty for skipping the Quad Comm’s inquiries, which is officially part of his duty.
Aside from potential perjury, Barbers claimed Grijaldo could also face liability for his alleged role in the death of former Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office board secretary Wesley Barayuga in July 2020, during Duterte’s bloody drug war.
At the time, Grijaldo was the Mandaluyong City police chief, and allegations of a cover-up emerged after the Quadcomm learned there were no police records or proper investigation into Barayuga’s case.
Grijaldo was a classmate of Garma, who was implicated as one of the “masterminds” behind Barayuga’s assassination. At the time, Barayuga was reportedly prepared to testify against alleged corruption and illegal practices in the operations of the PCSO, particularly in STL (small town lottery) during Garma's tenure as general manager.