Police colonel claims pressure by House solon

MANILA, Philippines — A Philippine National Police official on Monday accused a member of the House quad committee of instructing him to confirm the statements of retired Police colonel and former Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) General Manager Royina Garma about the alleged reward system in former President Rodrigo Duterte’s drug war.

Speaking before the Senate blue ribbon subcommittee, which began its drug war probe on Monday, Police Col. Hector Grijaldo Jr. of the PNP Drug Enforcement Group claimed that Sta. Rosa, Laguna Rep. Dan Fernandez, House quad committee cochair, ordered him to confirm the drug war rewards system.

Grijaldo read a sworn statement to the panel after he was introduced by Duterte ally Sen. Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa.

READ: Garma, Leonardo skip Senate drug war probe due to health reasons

He claimed being summoned by Fernandez to his office during a quad committee hearing on Oct. 22. The lawmaker presented him with Garma’s supplemental affidavit, the police officer said.

“This is the supplemental affidavit of Colonel Garma, just say you knew about the rewards system, just confirm it,” Grijaldo quoted Fernandez as telling him, adding that Manila Rep. Bienvenido Abante Jr. was also present.

In an earlier quad committee hearing, Garma, formerly one of Duterte’s trusted aides, told lawmakers the former President offered cash rewards for every suspect killed in his drug war.

At the Senate probe, Duterte disputed Garma’s claims before the House.

Fernandez dismissed as “lies” Grijaldo’s testimony, saying it was an attempt to discredit the House super panel.

“We never asked him to sign any affidavit. We asked him if he had any knowledge about what Colonel Garma talked about,” said the chair of the House panel on public order and safety.

He confirmed that Grijaldo was summoned by the quad committee “because the lawyer of Garma told us that [Grijaldo] knew about the reward system.”

“Colonel Garma said to us that Colonel Grijaldo can confirm the truthfulness of her affidavit and she sent her two lawyers to witness the conversation,” Fernandez said further, adding “We never asked [Grijaldo] to sign any affidavit. That’s a lie.”

Abante, chairperson of the House committee on human rights, also denied Grijaldo’s accusations, adding that “It is clear from the conduct of the Senate hearing that a conflict of interest exists and compromises the Senate’s ability to hold fair and impartial proceedings.”

Facing Duterte

Earlier at the Senate, the families of some of the victims of extrajudicial killings (EJKs) came face to face with Duterte.

One of them, widow Christina Gonzales, said her husband Joselito was killed during the drug war shortly after Duterte came into power.

She admitted that she and her husband had sold illegal drugs peddled by policemen themselves from 2015 until her husband was killed on July 5, 2016.

She added that their police contacts assured the couple they would not get arrested.

“Everyone knows that we sell illegal drugs. Yes, that’s true, but what we sell came from police officers. That’s why we were not afraid during that time that we were selling drugs because it came from them. They told us not to worry about being arrested because the substance came from them,” Gonzales said in Filipino.

However, her husband was told to leave Antipolo City because there would be a “clean-up.”

“My husband stayed because he believed police officers would not harm him. Then they took him from our house and said he would just be transferred to another place. But he never returned. The next time I saw him was in a morgue. He was dead,” recalled an emotional Gonzales.

Dela Rosa confronted Gonzales, saying she should have reported it to authorities. He added that they sent “ninja cops” to Mindanao during that time “so that they will be removed from your communities, so they can no longer operate.”

Gonzales said she could not file a formal complaint because she left Antipolo out of fear for her life.

Kian’s case revisited

Another resource person was Randy delos Santos, uncle of Kian delos Santos, the 17-year-old Caloocan youth whose murder by the police in 2017 marked a turning point in the public’s regard of the drug war.

Delos Santos recalled how the antidrug campaign had affected him and his family, saying he lost his job after Dela Rosa, then PNP chief, claimed he was involved in illegal drugs.

Dela Rosa said he could not recall linking Randy delos Santos to illegal drugs. But he remembered briefing the media that police operatives had claimed that Kian delos Santos’ father was a drug user.