Garma’s lawyers deny Grijaldo’s claim of coercion in quad comm probe

MANILA, Philippines — The lawyers of retired police Col. Royina Garma have denied Police Col. Hector Grijaldo’s claim that he was coerced by two quad committee co-chairmen into confirming the existence of a reward system for rogue policemen and hitmen who killed drug targets during the previous administration’s brutal drug war.

Last October 28, Grijaldo made the allegations during the Senate blue ribbon subcommitte investigation regarding former President Rodrigo Duterte’s anti-drug campaign.

A joint statement from Garma’s lawyers — Emerito Quilang and Rotciv Cumicad — was presented by Batangas Rep. Gerville Luistro in the House quad committee’s Thursday hearing.

READ: Garma: Telling real drug war stories aims to restore public trust in PNP

To give context, Luistro disclosed that the two lawyers were invited “to serve as witnesses” in a meeting between Santa Rosa City Rep. Dan Fernandez, Manila Rep. Bienvenido Abante Jr., and Grijaldo.

“We would like to shed light on the nature of the interactions we observed the discussions were focused on ensuring clarity and understanding of Col. Garman’s affidavit particularly regarding any knowledge Col. Grijaldo might have about the reward system mentioned in it. At no point did any of the congressmen attempt to pressure Mr. Grijaldo into conforming to a predetermined narrative,” Luistro said, reading the joint statement.

“Mr. Chair, I wish to manifest that this letter clears clearly our Chairman Abante and Chairman Fernandez from the allegation  of coercion and harassment about that incident which allegedly transpired during the hearing where Col. Grijaldo attended as testified to during the Senate investigation,” she added.

“With the enlightenment given to us by the counsels of record of Col. Garma, I am urging the Quad Committee, particularly Chairman Abante and Chairman Fernandez, to take the necessary action in order to penalize the perjured statement that Col. Grijaldo gave during the Senate investigation,” she further said.

Upon hearing this, the mega panel chair Surigao 2nd District Rep. Robert Ace Barbers, said the statement should be part of the committee’s records and copies of it should be given to Grijaldo and the upper chamber.

According to the lawyers, they were compelled to “to address the recent claims made regarding the supposed coercion and manipulation of testimony involving Colonel Garma’s affidavit.”

“First and foremost, we wish to clarify that we were called solely to be witnesses or observers during this meeting. Our role was limited to observing the meeting, and we did not engage in any discussions. The dialogue was primarily between Congressman Dan Fernandez and Congressman Abante, who were the only individuals actively speaking,” they said.

“The discussions were focused on ensuring clarity and understanding of Colonel Garma’s affidavit, particularly regarding any knowledge Colonel Grijaldo might have about the reward system mentioned in it. At no point did any of the congressmen attempt to pressure Mr. Grijaldo into conforming to a predetermined narrative,” they added.

Moreover, they also affirm that they have not witness “any form of coercion or undue influence directed toward Grijaldo.”

During the past hearings, Garma claimed that Duterte and other high-ranking officials during his administration sanctioned covert operations replicating the Davao City model of extrajudicial killings on a national scale.

Based on reports, Duterte’s war on drugs left at least 6,000 people dead.

However, a data from human rights watchdog Karapatan, showed that the former chief executive should be held accountable for the EJKs of 30,000 individuals involved with drugs, the alleged summary execution of 422 political activists, and the reported frustrated extrajudicial killing of 544 others.