Ex-President Duterte is face of illegal drugs, crime —QuadComm's Acop

Former President Rodrigo Duterte is at the center of the criminal syndicate involving the illegal drug trade and other crimes, a vice chairperson of House Quad Committee (QuadComm) said at the conclusion of its probe on bloody drug war for the year.

House QuadComm vice chairperson and Antipolo Representative Romeo Acop made the statement late Thursday night, citing testimonies from resource persons during the joint panel's 12 marathon hearings.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the Quad Committee has started to uncover a grand criminal enterprise, and it would seem that at the center of it is the former president," Acop said.

Acop added, "Napakasakit po nito dahil tayo pong lahat ay nabudol. Nilunod po nila (former president and his allies) ang bayan natin ng droga at kumita sila dahil rito. Nasaan ngayon si Colonel Acierto? Nagtatago dahil gusto siyang patayin ng ating former president," Acop said, referring to former police Colonel Eduardo Acierto, who had accused Duterte of protecting Yang.

(This hurts because we were all duped. The former president and his allies drowned our country in drugs and they profited from it. Where is Colonel Acierto now? He is in hiding because the former president wants him killed.)

GMA News Online has sought comments from Duterte's camp on QuadComm's findings but has yet to respond as of posting time.

Acop cited the testimony of former Customs intelligence officer Jimmy Guban, who said that he was told that the multi-billion-peso shabu shipment seized in 2018 belonged to Davao City Rep. Paolo Duterte, Vice President Sara Duterte's husband Mans Carpio, and former presidential economic adviser Michael Yang.

Further, Acop also cited the accounts of retired Colonel Royina Garma, former senator Leila de Lima, and police colonel Jovie Espenido — both of whom also linked Duterte to criminal activity. He also spoke about Arturo Lascañas, self-confessed hitman of the Davao Death Squad.

"(One of the) right-hand men (of) former President Duterte (was) Colonel Acierto... he branded former President Duterte as the lord of all drug lords. Acierto, Mr. Jimmy Guban, Mr. [Arturo] Lascañas, and Mr. [Mark] Taguba have all bared their stories before this QuadComm. Through their stories, and our interpellation... we discovered common personalities that seem to just be consistently present in all the narratives," Acop said.

Acop said, "Napakasakit po dahil President Digong [Duterte] won on the platform of a hardline stance against illegal drugs and criminality. Siya pala ang mukha ng illegal drugs at kriminalidad."

(What's painful is that President Digong won on the platform of a hardline stance against illegal drugs and criminality. Turns out he is the face of illegal drugs and criminality.)

Likewise, Acop said that the accounts of Garma, De Lima, and Espenido on the reward system under the Duterte administration were never refuted, given the alleged systematic killings of operators of drug laboratories and chemists, distributors who sourced their product from these local manufacturers, and some 30,000 drug suspects who were supposedly killed in the name of war on drugs.

"Ano po ang benefit [sa Duterte war on drugs]? Open season na po for drug importers. Ang masama, isa itong naging ugat ng extrajudicial killing. Huwag po natin kalilimutan na napakarami ang namatay sa war on drugs, 30,000 ayon po sa datos. Narinig po natin ang mga pamilya ng mga naging biktima ng war on drugs. Marami sa kanila, ayon kay former President Duterte, ay collateral damages," Acop said.

(What is the benefit of the Duterte war on drugs? Open season for drug importers. Unfortunately, this became the cause of extrajudicial killings. Let us not forget that so many died because of the war on drugs — 30,000, according to data. We hear stories from families who were victims of the war on drugs. According to former President Duterte, many of them were collateral damage.)

"But what do we make of the war on drugs? Mukhang ang war on drugs was a convenient way to eliminate competition in the drug trade. More specifically, the local manufacturers. Let us remember, ang key feature ng war on drugs ay ang reward system. Every kill is compensated," Acop said.

(But what do we make of the war on drugs? Mukhang ang war on drugs was a convenient way to eliminate competition in the drug trade. More specifically, the local manfuacturers. Let us remember, the key feature of the war on drugs is the reward system. Every kill is compensated.)

"Colonel Espenido even adds that awards could go as high as P100,000 [per kill], and that the system at that time was known to all policemen. It was such a strong but perverse incentive to play along with the war on drugs," Acop added.

Further, Acop said that no less than Duterte, in a press conference this year, confirmed the account of Lascañas that then-mayor Duterte ordered the killing of 11 Chinese citizens who were shabu laboratory chemists and workers for a P500,000 reward back in 2004.

He noted that when Duterte was asked by the QuadComm about the 11 Chinese killed in the 2004 Dumoy raid, the latter reiterated his earlier statement that "inubos ko sila (I got rid of all of them)."

"Is this not a story that just seems all too familiar? As early as 2004, former President Duterte had already been issuing kill orders to those involved in the drug trade. All for the purpose of what? Eliminating these people in the name of drugs or in the name of competition? Whatever the reason, patay pa rin po sila (they are still dead)," Acop added. — VDV, GMA Integrated News