MANILA — Members of the House Quad Committee are preparing to ask “educated questions” during hearings concerning the alleged extrajudicial killings (EJKs) linked to the Duterte administration’s war on drugs, as well as issues involving illegal Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs) and illegal drugs, according to 1RIDER Party List Rep. Ramon Rodrigo Gutierrez.
Gutierrez made this statement following former President Rodrigo Duterte’s expression of willingness to participate in the Quad Comm hearings, provided that lawmakers ask him “educated questions” if he is called to testify.
“Good to know po siguro that when the time comes, he’ll be attending. I would like to think educated naman ang questions ng ating kasama sa committee,” Gutierrez said during a press briefing on Thursday.
He further emphasized that Duterte’s testimony would be crucial, especially if the panel can establish solid links between the former president and the EJKs under investigation.
Duterte has previously been implicated in the August 2016 deaths of three alleged Chinese drug lords at the Davao Prison and Penal Farm, reportedly orchestrated by its former warden and a hired hitman.
His former spokespersons dismissed these allegations as mere “political attacks.”
“It will be very important when the time is right… Although his name has been mentioned every now and then, if you observe, parang malayo pa. Sa Quad… talagang hindi siya just because nabanggit ‘yung pangalan, isasangkot na kaagad.
We try to establish the basis first. We expect to fully thresh out ‘yung doon sa baba… I think we will still be working on the issues of the Davao template with Class 96 and 97 of the PNPA,” Gutierrez added.
The so-called “Davao template” will be a focal point in the resumption of the Quad Comm hearings this Friday.
On September 27, former police officer Royina Garma confirmed before the Quad Comm that the “Davao template” was discussed during a June 28, 2016 meeting held at the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) building in Davao City between Duterte and officers from her Philippine National Police Academy (PNPA) class.
ABANG LINGKOD Party List Rep. Joseph Stephen Paduano noted that just over a month later, a series of killings inside jails in Bicol, Leyte, and Parañaque were reported.