Ex-PTFoMS head denies threatening Guban over drug shipment allegations

Former Bureau of Customs official Jimmy Guban told the House QuadComm that ex-Presidential Task Force on Media Security chief Paul Gutierrez told him not to link Michael Yang, Paolo Duterte, Mans Carpio or Benny Antiporda to the illegal drug trade or else he would be killed—an allegation Gutierrez denied at the hearing on Thursday.

Guban said he was detained at the Senate during the Blue Ribbon Committee inquiry into an illegal drug shipment smuggled through magnetic lifters when the supposed threat occurred.

Michael Yang is a former economic adviser to Rodrigo Duterte when he was president. Duterte's son Paolo is currently congressman for Davao City's 1st District, while lawyer Mans Carpio is Duterte's daughter Vice President Sara Duterte's husband. Benny Antiporda is a former Environment official who briefly headed the National Irrigation Authority in 2022 before he was removed. Guban had linked Paolo Duterte, Carpio and Yang to the shipment.

“Your Honor, he threatened me na pag binanggit ko ang pangalan ni Michael Yang, Pulong Duterte, Mans Carpio and his boss, Benny Antiporda, mapapadali, mamamatay kaagad ako,” Guban said of Gutierrez during the House Quad Committee's investigation into the Duterte administration's drug war.

(He threatened me that if I mentioned the names of Yang, Pulong Duterte, Carpio and his boss Antiporda, my life would be cut short. I'd die early.) 

“Kasama ang pamilya ko, lalo na kung ako ilipat na kaagad sa Pasay City Jail. That is their plan. At may kasama po ‘yan [nung pumunta sa akin], hindi po guard, empleyado ng Blue Ribbon na babae. Kaya ko nga po binuksan eh dahil yung kumatok sa pinto, taga [Senate] Blue Ribbon,” Guban added.

(The threat included my family, especially if I were to be transferred to Pasay City Jail. When he came to me he was not with a guard but with a woman employee of the Senate Blue Ribbon committee. That is why I opened the door in the first place because he was with someone from the Blue Ribbon.)

Gutierrez responds

Gutierrez denied Guban’s allegations and said he only approached him as a reporter looking for a story and wanted to ask Guban what he would do if former Police Colonel Eduardo Acierto pinned Guban to the illegal drug trade.

“Tinanong ko po lang siya kung anong gagawin niya sakali pong ilaglag nga po siya ni Colonel Acierto. Sabi po niya, ay hindi po pwede yan kasi mas marami po akong, mas marami akong alam sa kanila. Tinanong ko rin po siya kung ‘yung pong isang dating opisyal ng National Press Club na palagi po namin nakikita sa hearing, kung ‘yun ba ang kanyang kaibigan na nagpi-PR [public relations] sa kanya, hindi po siya umimik doon sa tanong na ‘yun,” Gutierrez said.

(I was just asking him what would he do if Colonel Acierto were to point to him. He said it would not happen because I knew more than him. I also asked him if a former official of the National Press Club whom we always see at the hearings is doing public relations work for him. He did not reply to that question.)

“I was just being curious as a reporter, kung ano ba talaga ang katotohanan sa sinasabi ng witness na ito [to find out the truth to what this witness was saying],” Gutierrez added.

Guban, however, maintained that Gutierrez is the one lying.

“Yan ho ang pinakamagaling na magsinungaling na reporter. Dahil ano po ang pinakadahilan bakit niya ako pupuntahan sa kwarto ko na hindi nga kami magkakilala. Hindi ko siya kaano-ano. Hindi rin ako humihingi ng tulong sa kanya,”  Guban said.

(He is the most brilliant lying reporter. Why would he come to me when I don't know him. I am not related to him and I am not asking for help from him.)

“Wala naman po ako nagpasabi na Mr. Paul, tulungan nyo nga po ako dahil malakas po kayo kay ganito. In fact, hindi ko rin kilala si Mr. Antiporda,” Guban added.

(I did not ask him, Mr. Paul, help me because you know people in high places. I don't even know who Mr. Antiporda is.)

During the same hearing, Antiporda also denied that he was involved in threatening Guban to protect certain individuals from being implicated in the drug trade.

“Wala pong katotohanan ‘yan. In the first place, hindi ko po siya kilala. Hindi ko alam ang number niya. At lalong hindi ko rin po kilala ‘yung mga sinasabi niyang taong connected po sa akin, especially si Mans Carpio, Michael Yang at Congressman Pulong," Antiporda said.

(There's no truth to that. In the first place, I don't know him. I don't know his number. And I do not know the people he is linking me to, especially Mans Carpio, Michael Yang and Congressman Pulong.)

“Hindi po, in any way, hindi ko po pa sila nakausap personally or electronically. Hindi ko po sila kilala. Kilala ko lang po sila dahil personalidad po sila na nakikita sa TV,” Antiporda added.

(I have never, in any way, spoken to them personally or electronically. I do not know them. I only know them because they are individuals who appear on TV.)

Previously, Guban told the House QuadComm that that he had been told that the multi-billion-peso shabu shipment seized in 2018 belonged to Paolo Duterte, Carpio, and Yang.

"Huwag ka matakot kasi sila Mans Carpio, Pulong Duterte at Michael Yang ang may-ari ng shipment," Guban quoted a lower-ranked Customs officer as telling him about the shipment of shabu in 2018.

(Don't be afraid because Mans Carpio, Pulong Duterte and Michael Yang own the shipment.)

Duterte has denied Guban's allegation.

“Nais ko pong ipaalala sa taumbayan na ang salitang 'star witness' ay humahalimbawa lamang sa mga taong nagsasalita ng katotohanan lamang at may kredibilidad. Hindi po si Jimmy Guban ang taong yan sapagkat siya po ay na i-contempt na ng Senate Blue Ribbon Committee dahil sa kanyang pagsisinungaling,” the Davao City congressman said in an earlier statement, referring to a time when Guban made conflicting statements before a Senate inquiry into the 2018 shabu shipment.

(I want to remind the public that the term 'star witness' only refers to someone who speaks the truth and has credibility. Jimmy Guban is not that person. as he was cited in contempt by the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee due to his lying.) — BM, GMA Integrated News