Duterte to skip QuadComm probe on Oct. 22

Former President Rodrigo Duterte will skip the October 22 House Quad Committee investigation into the drug war killings during his presidency but will show up in future probes, his legal counsel said Monday.

Martin Delgra III, the legal counsel for Duterte, said the former leader is feeling under the weather at the moment.

“Unfortunately, despite his keen intention to attend, my client respectfully manifests that he cannot attend the public hearing set on 22 October 2024. Aside from the short notice given to him, my client just arrived in Davao from Metro Manila last 17 October 2024,” Delgra said in a letter addressed to House QuadComm lead chairman and Surigao del Norte lawmaker Ace Barbers.

“Considering his advanced age and the several engagements he had to attend, he is currently not feeling well and is in need of much rest. Hence, my client respectfully requests to defer his appearance before the Honorable Committee scheduled tomorrow,” Delgra added.

Delgra, however, said Duterte is amenable to attending future QuadComm hearings after November 1.

Duterte has been accused by at least two inmates of ordering the killing of three Chinese citizens convicted of drug charges inside a Davao City prison in August 2016.

Kerwin Espinosa, who has been previously linked to the illegal drug trade, also told the QuadComm that he believes Duterte issued a kill order on his father, former Albuera Mayor Rolando Espinosa, who was killed while in Leyte detention in 2016. 

Likewise,  Police Colonel Jovie Espenido has also told the House QuadComm that police were required to visit 50 to 100 households of suspected drug users and traffickers a day and were rewarded P100,000 for successful drug busts during the Duterte administration. 
 
Ex-police officer and former Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) general manager Royina Garma, for her part, also revealed that Duterte asked her to look for an officer who would implement the “Davao model” of the war on drugs on a national scale, a system that rewarded police officials of P20,000 to P1 million per drug suspect killed. 

Former President Rodrigo Duterte denied that a reward system was implemented during his administration’s controversial campaign against illegal drugs. 

Last week, Duterte said in an interview that the only rewards he gives to the police who successfully complete their mission are food and greetings. 

“‘Yang sinasabi nilang reward, walang reward ‘yan. Hindi ako magbibigay ng reward,” he said told Sonshine Media Network International. 

(There was no reward. I will never give a reward.) 

“Ang pinakaano [ng mga pulis] sa akin is ‘pag mission accomplished, yayain ko sila sa restaurant, magkain kami and I congratulate them. Tsaka palainom ang pulis. Bigyan mo ng dalawang boteng scotch…hindi ‘yan tatanggap ng pera. Nahihiya ‘yan,” he added. 

Duterte’s former spokesperson and lawyer Salvador Panelo also denied that killing is a part of the policy of the Duterte administration, and that the Davao model was just Garma’s imagination.—LDF, GMA Integrated News