EXPLAINER: Duterte's Drug War Probe Could Never Go Wrong

Quad Committee’s never-ending invitation 

Since August 2024, the Philippine House of Representatives has begun joint hearings to investigate extrajudicial killings in the "war on drugs" and whether the Duterte government utilized money from narcotics and illegal gambling to fund the killings of police to drug suspects.

The quadruple committee consists of the Committee on Dangerous Drugs, Committee on Human Rights, Committee on Public Order and Safety, and Committee on Public Accounts.

The chairs of these committees are Representatives Robert Ace Barbers of Surigao del Norte, Bienvenido Abante of Manila, Dan Fernandez of Laguna, and Stephen Paduano of the Abang Lingkod party-list.

Both former President Rodrigo Duterte and Senator Ronald dela Rosa received another invitation from Manila 6th District Representative Bienvenido Abante Jr., chair of the House Human Rights Committee, on August 7 to discuss the national concerns linked with the past administration.

The House Human Rights Committee had earlier invited the former president to participate in its investigation, "but he did not come," according to Abante, who added that the quad comm probe is a national security issue.

According to him, Duterte is able to address evidence from organizations such as the National Union of Peoples' Lawyers, which claims that 16,000 people were murdered by vigilante forces and an estimated 20,000 people were killed in the previous administration's war on drugs.

In addition, the quad panel invited Harry Roque, who was Duterte's presidential spokesperson, and Senator Ronald "Bato" dela Rosa, who was the former chief of the PNP.

Both Duterte and dela Rosa were previously invited to the extrajudicial killings (EJK) investigation into the previous administration's drug campaign, but they chose not to attend any of the sessions.

Meanwhile, on August 16, Senator Ronald "Bato" dela Rosa addressed "opportunistic" members of the House of Representatives who he claimed were all praise when the Duterte administration was enforcing the war on drugs but changed their positions after the new administration came in.

Witnesses’ bombshell testimonials 

Jimmy Guban, a former intelligence officer with the Bureau of Customs, made his revelation on the same day during a House quad committee investigation into the connections between Philippine online gaming operators (POGOs) and the illicit drug trade, as well as the extrajudicial killings associated with the previous administration's war on drugs in Bacolor, Pampanga.

Guban linked the smuggling of Php11 billion worth of shabu to the arrival at the Manila International Container Terminal in August 2018 of Vice President Sara Duterte's brother, Davao City 1st District Representative Paolo Duterte, and her husband, Manases Carpio.

Meanwhile, at the third mega-panel hearing on August 22, two persons deprived of liberty (PDLs) identified former President Rodrigo Duterte as the mastermind who indirectly ordered them to kill three Chinese drug lords within the prison colony in August 2016.

During the hearing, PDLs Leopoldo Tan Jr. and Fernando "Andy" Magdadaro claimed that Duterte is responsible for the deaths of Chu Kin Tung, alias Tony Lim; Li Lan Yan, alias Jackson Li; and Wong Meng Pin, alias Wang Ming Ping, all of whom were detained at the Davao Prison and Penal Farm's (DPPF) in Davao del Norte.

Both Tan and Magdadaro said that in 2016, while they were still being held at the DPPF, police asked them to kill three Chinese drug convicts who were also being held there in order to receive Php 1 million and be released.

In the same quad committee hearing, former police officer Jimmy Fortaleza backed up the testimony of Leopoldo Tan Jr. and Fernando Magdadaro, who claimed to have killed three Chinese drug lords.

According to Fortaleza's testimony last August 28, Garma called him in August 2016 because she wanted to speak with Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) Superintendent Gerardo Padilla. After that, Fortaleza brought Padilla the phone so they could speak with Garma.

However, BuCor Senior Superintendent Gerardo Padilla, who was the warden at the time, denied any knowledge of the plot. 

After evading queries concerning the incident's specifics, Senior Superintendent Gerardo Padilla of the Bureau of Corrections was cited in contempt by the joint four House committees.

Meanwhile, Controversial police Col. Jovie Espenido confirmed on Wednesday, August 28, that there was a reward and quota system under former President Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs, which reinforced some police officers to abuse the system.

Testifying before a hearing of the House of Representatives’ quad committee on drug-related killings during the Duterte administration, the police officer said that many innocent civilians died due to abuses committed by the police.

During the House quad committee inquiry on Wednesday, September 4, Corrections Senior Superintendent Gerardo Padilla alleged that retired police colonel Royina Garma threatened him, ordering him not to interfere in the alleged killing of three Chinese drug lords in Davao.

On September 12, however, Padilla provided a supplemental affidavit during the House quad committee hearing that supported hitman Leopoldo Tan's claim that former President Rodrigo Duterte had called him to congratulate him on the murder of three Chinese prisoners at the Davao Prison and Penal Farm. 

Tan had earlier disclosed that he heard Duterte call Padilla to offer congratulations following the murders. 

Duterte complimented him on a "job well done" over the phone, Padilla confirmed. 

What's with the Davao Model?

In her testimony before the quad committee on October 11, Retired Police Colonel Royina Garma stated that former President Rodrigo Duterte had gotten in touch with her in May 2016 regarding the establishment of a task force that could carry out the drug war nationwide while keeping the "Davao model" in mind.

According to Garma, the Davao pattern alludes to a rewards system in which police officers who kill drug suspects receive financial awards ranging from P20,000 to P1 million.

Garma claims that after Duterte informed her that the leader of the task force must be an INC member, Garma decided to call Leonardo.

On October 22, Edilberto Leonardo, a former police colonel and commissioner of the National Police Commission (Napolcom), responded in the affirmative when asked if he believed retired police colonel Royina Garma's testimonies regarding the system that pays police officers money for killing drug suspects.

In addition, he responded affirmatively when asked if he was tasked with heading the Davao Region's Criminal Investigation and Detection Group to verify drug-related data for Senator Bong Go, who answered directly to Duterte.

Allegations that Leonardo was involved in the murders of three Chinese drug offenders at DPPF and former PCSO board secretary Wesley Barayuga have led to his resignation.

He was also cited for contempt for lying by the House of Representatives quad committee during its seventh hearing.

Former Senator Leila de Lima reveals more about the reward system.

Former Senator Leila de Lima also discussed the details of the Davao Death Squad's (DDS) purported rewards system, which is similar to the "Davao Model" for the national drug war that has resulted in the deaths of thousands of drug suspects, during the ninth session of the House quad committee investigation on extrajudicial killings (EJKs) connected to Duterte's brutal war on drugs campaign.

According to De Lima, Duterte's "Davao model" has been put into practice throughout his long tenure as the city's mayor.

According to the former senator, the DDS functioned over two different periods.

In Davao City, two groups—the police handlers and the assassins—were rewarded for killing named suspects between 1988 and 1998, according to De Lima's presentation.

Assassins were paid two-thirds of the total reward, receiving P10,000 of the P15,000 allocated per kill, while police handlers received P5,000.

According to De Lima, the DDS evolved into the Heinous Crimes Investigation Section (HCIS), a more formal and structured division of the Davao City Police Office, during the second time frame, which operated from 2001 to 2016.

According to the former senator, the rewards for each drug suspect slain ranged from P13,000 to P15,000, with P3,000 to P5,000 going to police handlers and the remaining amount being divided among civilian "abanteros," or hitmen, who were mostly rebel returnees.

As president of the Commission on Human Rights, De Lima looked into the DDS, the vigilante group suspected of being responsible for the murders of suspects and innocents in Davao City.

Senate drug war probe begins

On October 28, the Senate Blue Ribbon Subcommittee convened its first hearing on the Philippine War on Illegal Drugs, inviting former President Rodrigo Duterte.

In his first appearance at the Senate probe, former President Rodrigo Duterte had shown no remorse about his War on Drugs during the hearing.

"Do not question my policies because I offer no apologies, no excuses. I did what I had to do, and whether you believe it or not, I did it for my country," Duterte said.

He admitted to running his own seven “death squad” composed of gangsters to deal with criminals when he previously served as mayor of Davao city.

Duterte then claimed that his PNP commanders, who were previously city directors, were leaders of death squads, including his first police chief—Sen. Ronald "Bato" Dela Rosa. 

He further explained during the hearing that he instructed the police to "encourage" arrested suspects to fight back so that they may be slain. He justified his order by saying that building and prosecuting a case would otherwise take a long time.

Duterte’s probe far from over

After postponing the eleventh hearing into the drug-related extrajudicial killings on November 11, the House Quad Committee proceeded as initially scheduled on Wednesday, November 13.

After multiple invitations, Duterte eventually showed up and sat next to former Senator Leila de Lima. 

During the session, he appeared to make a punching gesture at the latter. This followed her assertion that Duterte was unfamiliar with her. She brought up their past hostile interactions, citing their history of legal and political issues that even resulted in her being singled out by the Duterte administration's "propaganda." 

Trillanes, meanwhile, revealed to the House Quad Comm bank transactions totaling at least P2.4 billion in the names of Duterte's family members. 

Furthermore, Trillanes described the information he presented at the Quad Comm panel as a "smoking gun" on the scope of Dutertes' alleged involvement in the illegal drug trade, claiming that the banks have both soft and hard copies of the financial records.

Duterte expectedly denied the allegations, stating that he would hang himself if the bank transactions were proven true. 

After former Senator Antonio Trillanes IV challenged him to sign a bank secrecy waiver that would allow his bank accounts to be examined, which the former senator claimed contained large sums of bribes from drug lords, Duterte grabbed his microphone and attempted to throw it at the former senator. 

The tense scenario resulted in a minutes-long suspension of the session. When the session restarted, Duterte apologized for his "unbecoming behavior." 

House Deputy Speaker David Suarez eventually requested that resource individuals show decorum.

Second Senate hearing resumes?

According to an Inquirer.net report on November 22, a second Senate hearing on former President Rodrigo Duterte’s drug war will only be possible should the chamber’s Blue Ribbon Subcommittee be given contempt powers, at least according to Senate Minority Leader Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III.

Pimentel, who heads the said subpanel, disclosed this to reporters in a text message on Thursday.

Larriezel Morada is the News Feature Editor of 4079 Magazine. A fourth-year BA Journalism student in PUP-Manila and the former Associate Editor of The Communicator, the official campus publication of PUP College of Communication. She is a former ABS-CBN News Digital intern and contributed various news articles covering beats such as lifestyle, sports, entertainment and regions.