Duterte, dela Rosa invited to House hearings on Pogos, drug trade links

Former President Rodrigo Duterte and Sen. Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa. —MALACAÑANG FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines — Both former President Rodrigo Duterte and Senator Ronald dela Rosa would be invited to the hearings of the four House of Representatives committees on the interconnection between illegal activities surrounding Philippine offshore gaming operator (Pogo) hubs and the drug trade.

The invitation for the two personalities was confirmed by the committee heads in a press briefing at the Batasang Pambansa complex on Wednesday. According to Manila 6th District Rep. Bienvenido Abante Jr., chair of the House committee on human rights, they will send another invite to Duterte so that he can defend himself from accusations.

Previously, an invite was sent to both Duterte and dela Rosa for the extrajudicial killings (EJK) probe on the past administration’s drug war, but they did not attend any of the hearings.

“We invited the former president to come, and he didn’t come. We will invite him again; the thing is, even the other committee would want to invite the former president because he alone can answer some questions,” Abante said.

“Yes, yes we are going to invite him (dela Rosa), definitely we will,” he added.

Antipolo 2nd District Rep. Romeo Acop, who is part of several committees involved in the quad-committee, said that they will extend the utmost respect to Duterte, as a former president, and to dela Rosa, as a fellow member of the 19th Congress.

“If Senator Bato [dela Rosa] will not attend the hearings to be conducted by the quad-comm, then that is his choice and we will respect that kasi there’s such a thing as inter-parliamentary courtesy so if they invite us there (Senate) also and if we do not want to attend, it’s our choice,” Acop explained.

“In the case of the former president, don’t we respect all presidents of our country, we respect them even if they are no longer in position because respect has two aspects in this case: we respect the position that he holds and we respect the person because we should respect everyone.  We will afford him the necessary respect that he deserves,” he added.

Last June 25, 2024, Abante’s committee extended an invite to the two officials so they could answer allegations against them.

Dela Rosa, before winning a Senate seat in 2019, was Duterte’s first Philippine National Police (PNP) chief.

Prior to the invite, Abante said they would only inform Duterte and dela Rosa about the next hearing, but the lawmaker said it is up to the two if they want to attend.

After the drug war, the victims’ relatives testified that they felt Duterte was responsible for the alleged rights violations in the drug war.

When the two did not attend the hearings, Abante lamented that the chance to clarify the past administration’s side was wasted.

Four House committees — the committee on dangerous drugs, committee on public order and safety, committee on public accounts, and the committee on human rights — have been tasked under House Resolution (HR) No. 1880 to investigate the intertwined issues between Pogos, illegal drugs, and alleged extrajudicial killings.

HR No. 1880 was adopted on Tuesday during the session, via viva voce or voice voting.

The committee on dangerous drugs initially conducted an investigation into two anti-drug operations in Pampanga, including a controlled delivery operation where drugs from the Port of Subic were tracked down into a warehouse in Mexico, owned by Empire 999 Realty Corp.

After it was eventually revealed that the warehouse was owned by Empire 999 Realty Corporation, controlled by a certain Willie Ong, the committee dug deeper and found ties to Lincoln Ong, an individual involved in the Pharmally issue.

READ: Gov’t to seize 320 properties worth billions from Chinese drug lords

The committee on public order and safety, meanwhile, started the probe on Pogos, where it was revealed that a worker named ‘Dylan’ was sold by a Chinese friend to the Bamban hub for P300,000.

Some of the names mentioned in the committee on dangerous drugs’ hearing also surfaced during the discussions on Pogo sites.

Last August 1, a matrix crafted by the committees, showing key personalities being linked to the Pogos and drug operations in Central Luzon, was presented to the public.