QuadComm to focus on alleged drug smuggling via ports -solon

The House Quad Committee will resume hearings next week, with Chairperson Robert Ace Barbers announcing Sunday that the focus will be on alleged drug smuggling through ports.

Barbers said the hearings are part of the committee’s ongoing investigation into drug smuggling and proliferation in Metro Manila.

“Mayroon kaming inaantay at inaasahan na [resource person] na mag ko-confirm. Tungkol naman ‘to sa pagdami ng droga na allegedly dumadaan sa mga ports ng mga nakaraan na taon,” Barbers told Super Radyo dzBB.

(We are waiting for a resource person to confirm their attendance. This concerns the increase of drugs allegedly smuggled through ports in recent years.)

He added that the QuadComm aims to propose measures to hold accountable those behind the alleged drug smuggling, including government officials.

Former Bureau of Customs official Jimmy Guban and Customs "fixer" Mark Taguba are among the personalities to be invited to the hearings.

Barbers also mentioned that Police Colonel Hector Grijaldo and former Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) chief Wilkins Villanueva would have another chance to speak before the panel.

Both were detained at the House of Representatives for contempt, with Taguba detained due to potential security threats.

The next QuadComm hearing is scheduled for Tuesday, January 21. — DVM, GMA Integrated News