Former President Rodrigo Duterte. Photo from the Senate Public Relations and Information Bureau.
MANILA, Philippines — Surigao del Norte 2nd District Rep. Robert Ace Barbers has disputed former President Rodrigo Duterte’s claim that witnesses presented before the House of Representatives’ quad committee were coerced to make false testimonies on the drug war.
During the eleventh hearing of the quad committee on Wednesday, Barbers told Duterte that lawmakers did not engage in alleged subornation of perjury when they supposedly asked Police Col. Hector Grijaldo if he could confirm testimonies about the rewards system in the drug war.
At the Senate blue ribbon sub-committee hearing last October 28, Grijaldo claimed that Santa Rosa City Rep. Dan Fernandez and Manila 6th District Rep. Bienvenido Abante Jr. pressured him to confirm retired police Col. Royina Garma’s claims about the drug war. Duterte said this may be a subornation of perjury.
“If you are saying that some individuals who faced the committee were forced to say things that are not true, and you even labeled quad committee members’ actions as subornation, you are wrong,” Barbers said in Filipino.
“The lawyers present during the meeting where Col. Grijaldo and Chairman Abante and Fernandez talked have testified that Grijaldo’s claim was just a made-up story,” he added.
According to Barbers, Grijaldo has refused to face the quad committee, which lawmakers think is proof that his accusations carried a huge responsibility of proving it.
“Actually, Grijaldo has given two excuse letters already, as he cannot attend the quad committee hearings. Maybe he has realized the gravity of his accusations against the quad comm,” Barbers said in Filipino.
During the Senate hearing, Grijaldo claimed that a security official asked him to go out of the quad committee’s meeting room during the October 22 hearing to meet Fernandez and Abante.
“Cong. Dan Fernandez put the paper he was holding on the table and told me, ‘mention this statement’ while pointing at the paragraph on the paper. ‘This is the supplemental statement of Colonel Garma, say that you are aware of the rewards system, just confirm it,’” Grijaldo said.
READ: Cop claims solons pressured him to confirm drug war reward system
Grijaldo, however, said that when he told the lawmakers that he could not confirm Garma’s testimonies, Fernandez asked where he could fit in her testimonies.
Abante, Grijaldo claimed, also tried to urge him to spill something.
After this, former Philippine National Police (PNP) chief and now Senator Ronald dela Rosa asked if Grijaldo was being coached and harassed to corroborate Garma’s claims. Grijaldo answered in the affirmative.
Fernandez said it is true that Grijaldo was summoned, but he was not forced to confirm Garma’s testimony. Garma’s lawyers also said that there was no attempt to coerce Grijaldo.
READ: Fernandez to Grijaldo: House won’t take your ‘script’ sitting down
READ: Garma’s lawyers deny Grijaldo’s claim of coercion in quad comm probe
The quad committee hearing on Wednesday was initially canceled, but Barbers said they decided to push through after learning that Duterte may be present.
According to Barbers, the panel wanted to maximize Duterte’s presence as the committee is not sure when the former president will be available again.
Duterte eventually showed up at the quad committee hearing. He was accompanied by his former spokesperson, lawyer Salvador Panelo.
Revelations from former police officials, like retired colonel Royina Garma’s claims about the existence of a rewards system in the Duterte administration’s drug war, have bolstered lawmakers’ belief that there were irregularities in the operations.
According to Garma, Duterte called her in 2016 about the creation of a task force that would implement the so-called Davao template on a nationwide scale. The Davao template, Garma said, involved providing cash grants worth P20,000 to P1 million to cops who killed drug suspects.
READ: Garma says Davao drug war template, rewards system applied in entire PH
Garma also claimed that the Davao Death Squad, a team that Duterte supposedly crafted, was common knowledge among police officers in Davao.
At a Senate hearing last October 28, Duterte said he created a seven-man hit squad made up of gangsters when he was Davao City mayor, but he retracted his statement when senators asked for a clarification.
READ: Duterte admits to having ‘death squad,’ later insists it’s not one