DOJ to start drug war probe upon receiving House quad panel report

DRUG WAR composite image from Inquirer file photos

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Justice (DOJ) will initiate a preliminary investigation into the Duterte administration’s drug war upon receiving the House of Representatives Quad Committee’s report and affidavits related to the probe.

Justice Undersecretary Raul Vasquez said this on Sunday when asked about the quad panel’s latest discovery on the killings of three Chinese in the Davao Penal and Prison Farm in August 2016, retired general and Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) board secretary Wesley Barayuga, and former Tanauan, Batangas mayor Antonio Halili.

READ: Garma links PNP official to Batangas mayor’s assassination

“We will initiate the preliminary investigation and case build-up once Congress refers its committee report together with the affidavits or when somebody files a complaint against those responsible. Here, it could be the police or private complainants. There must be an initiatory process,” Vasquez told reporters in a message.

According to the police, Barayuga was shot dead in July 2020 on his way home from the PCSO headquarters in Mandaluyong City.

Reports said he was gunned down by an unidentified assailant on a motorcycle at the corner of Calbayog and Malinaw Streets in Barangay Highway Hills.

Meanwhile, Halili was shot during a flag-raising ceremony in July 2018, and investigators found the nest used by a sniper just around a hundred meters away from the site of the flag ceremony.

Halili was known for shaming drug suspects and other criminals by parading them around the city.

During the previous and the latest hearings, retired police colonel Royina Garma was linked to the killing of Barayuga and alleged that a Philippine National Police (PNP) officer reportedly “bragged” about being behind the death of Halili.

Garma also alleged that former President Rodrigo Duterte and other high-ranking officials during his administration sanctioned covert operations replicating Davao City’s model of extrajudicial killings on a national scale.

In her affidavit, Garma disclosed that Duterte allegedly contacted her about the creation of a national task force, and among the key figures in implementing the reported scheme was Colonel Edilberto Leonardo.

Garma said Leonardo purportedly collaborated with Duterte and his aide, now Senator Christopher “Bong” Go, to establish a new task force comprising “liquidators” nationwide.

She also revealed that Leonardo allegedly conducted briefings for all Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency officials and even PNP chiefs. He had the final authority on who would be on the watchlist.