Former President Rodrigo Roa Duterte. —photo from Bong Go Facebook page
MANILA, Philippines — The House of Representatives has formed a “supercommittee” that will consolidate its ongoing inquiries into Philippine offshore gaming operators (Pogos), the questionable issuance of Philippine documents to Chinese nationals, the current state of the narcotics trade and the alleged abuses committed during the drug war waged by the previous administration.
For the lawmakers behind this move, the issues have something—or someone—in common: former President Rodrigo Duterte.
“He is the only one who can answer questions (relating to all four issues),” said Manila Rep. Bienvenido Abante, chair of the House committee on human rights, one of the four panels composing the superbody. “All of us have agreed it is important to invite him to our inquiry because this concerns our national security.”
READ: Quad-committee probe on EJKs, Pogos not aimed at Dutertes – panel
Aside from Abante’s committee, also included are the committees on public order and safety which is chaired by Laguna Rep. Dan Fernandez; on dangerous drugs, which is headed by Surigao del Norte Rep. Robert Ace Barbers; and on public accounts, which is chaired by Abang Lingkod Rep. Joseph Paduano.
‘Quad comm’
The four panels make up the so-called “quad comm” created by House Resolution No. 1880, which the chamber adopted on Tuesday night.
The dangerous drugs committee is currently investigating the discovery of some P3.6-billion worth of illegal drugs in a warehouse in Mexico, Pampanga province, in September last year, while the committee on human rights is looking into the alleged extrajudicial killings committed during Duterte’s brutal, six-year antidrug crackdown.
Fernandez said, “We would be inviting him (Duterte) to shed light on all the issues pertaining to public order and safety and whether our national security has been compromised when he was gearing toward a certain and specific country.”
The lawmaker was apparently alluding to Duterte’s open pivot to China as a regional partner, away from the country’s traditional security ally, the United States.
The committee on public order and safety, meanwhile, is conducting an inquiry into the criminal activities associated with Pogos, an industry ordered banned by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on July 22 during his State of the Nation Address.
The public accounts committee is investigating government offices involved in the release of spurious Philippine documents to Chinese nationals that allowed them to buy land or enter into fraudulent transactions.
‘Historic creation’
According to Abante, it was “only incidental” that the issues being investigated by the four committees were mostly traceable to the previous presidency.
“The previous administration might have triggered this investigation but (the issues are) continuing. That’s why we are investigating so we can craft legislation to stop it,” he said when asked to comment on perceptions that the House was just engaging in the political persecution of the Dutertes.
“We are not into that business (of getting into a) political squabble. No, we are here to do our job,” said Antipolo Rep. Romeo Acop, vice chair of the dangerous drugs committee.
“This is a historic creation [as] we see there seems to be overlapping and commonalities in the issues that we are tackling,” said Barbers. “Our common objective here is to pass remedial legislation for Congress.”
Hearing snubbed
“We started to have a hard time [when] one issue cropped up in another committee’s inquiry and then we would be forced to bring it up again in that committee,” Acop added. “We couldn’t tie the issues together so we thought of [combining] our forces.”
Abante’s committee formally asked Duterte to appear in a hearing last month, but the former President—who had publicly berated the House as “the most rotten” government institution and attacked President Marcos in interviews and political rallies—ignored the invitation.
Asked if the quad comm would be ready to cite Duterte in contempt should he continue snubbing House summons, Fernandez said: “We have to exhaust every possibility. If he again refuses to attend our hearings, there are many options we can do, but we would probably refrain from that kind of action (citing in contempt).”
“We will let it flow the natural way and not preempt the situation,” he added.