Quad comm member: It’s about restoring trust

Composite image from Inquirer file photos

MANILA, Philippines — A cochair of the House quad committee investigating the bloody war on illegal drugs vowed that Congress would restore not just accountability, but faith in the government’s institutions so that no Filipino will be denied justice.

House public order and safety committee chair Rep. Dan Fernandez gave the assurance on Saturday as Filipinos remembered their departed loved ones on All Souls’ Day.

In a statement, Fernandez—one of the cochairs of the House quad committee—said there are “countless Filipino families who grieve the loss of loved ones taken too soon” by the antinarcotics campaign of former President Rodrigo Duterte.

READ: ‘Tokhang’ victims’ kin angered by Duterte’s remarks at Senate probe

He said the findings of the lower chamber—such as cash rewards for killings of drug suspects and the involvement of policemen in some killings—“illustrate a deeply troubling trend where violence was incentivized, and accountability was ignored.”

“The evidence underscores the urgent need for justice, not only for the victims but for the integrity of our legal and law enforcement systems,” Fernandez said.

He added: “This is about more than just accountability, it is about restoring faith in our institutions and ensuring that no Filipino, regardless of their social or economic status, is ever denied justice.”

The next hearing of the House quad committee—which probes the killings, illegal drugs, alleged abuse of power, illegal Philippine offshore gaming operators and human rights violations linked to Duterte’s antinarcotics drive—is on Nov. 7.

Previous testimony

Last month, retired Police Col. Royina Garma confessed that Duterte paid cash rewards of up to P 1 million to policemen who killed drug suspects and suspected “narcopoliticians.”

She added that policemen were involved in the 2018 assassination of Tanauan, Batangas Mayor Antonio Halili.

After this, Duterte faced a Senate panel and admitted that he had a death squad composed of gangsters who took out drug suspects.

Duterte also admitted to ordering policemen to encourage drug suspects to fight back so that they will be killed in police operations.

However, he denied that he called up Garma in 2016 to order her to look for a police official and member of the Iglesia ni Cristo to lead the implementation of the so-called Davao model of giving cash rewards to policemen who killed drug suspects.

Former Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV said he sent copies of the transcripts of the Senate and House hearings on Duterte’s bloody war against illegal drugs to the International Criminal Court as additional evidence in the case of crimes against humanity against the former president.

Fernandez assured the public that the House quad committee’s commitment to justice is “unwavering” as he stressed that their task “is to ensure that these stories are neither silenced nor forgotten.”