Police Col. Hector Grijaldo faces the Senate blue ribbon committee, which has been investigating the drug war during the term of former President Rodrigo Duterte on October 28, 2024. Screengrab from Senate Livestream
MANILA, Philippines — Police Col. Hector Grijaldo Jr. is now under the custody of the House of Representatives after authorities implemented the contempt order issued against him, Surigao del Norte 2nd District Rep. Robert Ace Barbers said.
In an ambush interview on Monday, Barbers confirmed that Grijaldo was arrested while he was in the hospital.
According to Barbers, Grijaldo asked that he be placed on hospital arrest, but it was not allowed because the police officer was doing fine.
“Col. Grijaldo has been detained at the House of Representatives detention facility since December 14. We asked assistance from the Philippine National Police and our House Sergeant-at-Arms to implement the contempt order and detain Colonel Grijaldo,” Barbers said in Filipino.
“Initially, because he was in the hospital, he said he wanted to stay at the hospital and have a hospital arrest. But of course, we did not allow that because his doctors said he was okay, he’s ambulatory, he could move out, and there was no reason for him to stay in the hospital. So what we did was to implement the arrest order against him,” he added.
Grijaldo was cited for contempt by the House of Representatives’ quad committee during its hearing last December 12 after he failed to show up for the fourth time.
The police official was asked to be present at the hearing because of his alleged role in the death of former Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) Board Secretary Wesley Barayuga.
When still-unknown assailants gunned down Barayuga in July 2020, Grijaldo was the chief of the Mandaluyong City Police Station.
READ: PCSO board secretary shot dead in Mandaluyong City
At a previous committee hearing, Police Lt. Col. Santie Mendoza claimed that former National Police Commission Commissioner Edilberto Leonardo ordered him to take out Barayuga.
When Mendoza said he would think about the operation, Leonardo supposedly told him that the operation would bode well for the police officer’s career.
Leonardo denied these accusations.
READ: Cop regrets following PNPA senior’s order to kill PCSO’s Barayuga
House lawmakers also wanted to question Grijaldo regarding his testimony at the Senate blue ribbon sub-committee that was probing the Duterte administration’s drug war.
Grijaldo has accused Santa Rosa City Rep. Dan Fernandez and Manila 6th District Rep. Bienvenido Abante Jr. of pressuring him to confirm the testimonies of retired police colonel and former PCSO general manager Royina Garma.
During the hearing of the Senate blue ribbon subcommittee last October 28, Grijaldo told the panel that Abante and Fernandez summoned him to check if he could confirm parts of Garma’s testimony about the alleged rewards system in former President Rodrigo Duterte’s drug war.
This happened, Grijaldo said, during the ninth quad committee hearing last October 22.
READ: Cop claims solons pressured him to confirm drug war reward system
Fernandez clarified that while Grijaldo was summoned to a meeting, the police officer was not forced to sign any affidavit that would corroborate Garma’s testimonies.
Fernandez also said Grijaldo was only called up because Garma said he knew about the rewards system in the drug war.
Garma’s lawyers also denied Grijaldo’s claims.