Mga POGO, iligal na droga, at extra judicial killing ang ilan sa mga isyung dinidinig ng House Quad Committee mula pa noong Agosto.
Sa nakalipas na labindalawang hearing ng Quad Comm, ilang resource person na ang naimbitahan at tumestigo tungkol sa iba’t ibang isyu.
May bahid nga ba ito ng politika o talagang makatutulong sa paggawa ng mga panukalang batas ng mga miyembro ng House of Representatives? Sasagutin iyan ni House Quad Committee Chairman, Rep. Robert Ace Barbers sa #TheMangahasInterviews.
Sa nakalipas na labindalawang hearing ng Quad Comm, ilang resource person na ang naimbitahan at tumestigo tungkol sa iba’t ibang isyu.
May bahid nga ba ito ng politika o talagang makatutulong sa paggawa ng mga panukalang batas ng mga miyembro ng House of Representatives? Sasagutin iyan ni House Quad Committee Chairman, Rep. Robert Ace Barbers sa #TheMangahasInterviews.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00:00Pogos, extrajudicial killings, and illegal drugs.
00:00:09Is it just political or is the Quadcom of the House of Representatives really conducting a thorough investigation?
00:00:17Let's talk to the full committee chairman of the Quadcom, Rep. Ace Barbers of Surigao del Norte.
00:00:27Good day, Rep. Ace Barbers.
00:00:31Good day to all of you. Good day to all of our fellow countrymen.
00:00:35Okay. There are a lot of laws passed by the congressman, but it's important that we mention the Human Security Act.
00:00:43This is kind of in the middle of the conversation.
00:00:46So, Ace, please explain from the top.
00:00:49Who came up with the idea for these four committees to come together and have joint hearings?
00:00:55That's a very good question. When the 19th Congress started, there were investigations.
00:01:04The Committee on Public Accounts, Committee on Public Order and Safety, Committee on Dangerous Drugs, and Committee on Human Rights.
00:01:12Those committees are investigating their own topics.
00:01:18But we saw after several hearings, that almost all of the people I invited to our committee and invited to other committees are the same.
00:01:29It seems like it's consuming a lot of time for the government.
00:01:35So we decided, we talked and asked for guidance from our speaker.
00:01:41Our speaker immediately said that we should create a Quadcom.
00:01:46This is a historic and unprecedented committee that will tackle almost practically the same issue.
00:01:54Upon the guidance of the speaker, we created a Quadcom and we are discussing all of our topics one by one in this committee.
00:02:05Just to be clear, you started the first hearing on August 16. Your topics are different. Pogo?
00:02:14Pogo. Pogo is illegal. It's under the Committee on Public Order and Safety. Extrajudicial killings is under the Committee on Human Rights.
00:02:26The purchase of Chinese nationals as land, the establishment of fake corporations, their identities, they're not really Filipinos,
00:02:41they are Chinese nationals pretending to be Filipinos. And of course, the issue of drugs, the program is not about drugs.
00:02:51Okay. But it became a topic at some point, the gun for the police and the involvement of the police who helped or helped in the war on drugs and the drug network,
00:03:05the illegal drugs network. What are your new discoveries that became an issue? And avoidably, that's what happened.
00:03:14That is correct. That's why there are almost the same faces and the same investigations. For example, in Pogo, we discovered that Pogo became the root of many crimes,
00:03:27where there is involvement of some PNP members. This is human trafficking, drug trafficking, torture, extortion, kidnapping.
00:03:42This is related to the issue of drugs. One of the Chinese nationals brought here is the so-called illegal drugs. We can see that when people raid Pogo hubs,
00:04:00there is evidence that they are raiding. Most of them are there. The implementation of the war on drugs is related to the issue of extrajudicial killings because there is an alleged reward system
00:04:19that is being implemented while the war on drugs is being implemented.
00:04:23In the past month, there were 12 hearings. It seems that there will be a rescheduled hearing today because Vice President Sara Duterte will be facing the NBI.
00:04:33Can you explain, how many total witnesses did you call? My estimate is that more than 100 hours were spent in the investigation of the Quadcom.
00:04:46At the average, maybe in every committee hearing, our government spends at least 10 hours. We have more than 100 so-called resource persons.
00:05:04Some of them are going back and forth because the talks are consistent and continuous. For example, in the case of extrajudicial killings,
00:05:13there are many policemen who were accused in the implementation of this.
00:05:21In our last hearing, there are members of the PNP who are claiming that they were dismissed from their positions because of their involvement in the illegal drugs.
00:05:38But they are saying that we are not involved in drugs. There is no iota of evidence that we are involved. They were just dismissed.
00:05:50That's why we are reviewing that. That is one of our recommendations that we should review so that there will be justice. If it's true that they were dismissed without any evidence.
00:06:02In total, there are many witnesses. But how was the vetting process, the discovery process? Because many of you were surprised by the number of witnesses.
00:06:13The number of witnesses were high.
00:06:15That's right. These are the witnesses who gave their testimony to prove that there are incidents like this.
00:06:26We are asking for their affidavit. Others are going there with their affidavit, which is not a lottery.
00:06:35It doesn't mean that we will entertain them and allow them to give their testimony in the Quadcom.
00:06:43So what we do, when we see their affidavit, we vet them together with the legal team of the House of Representatives.
00:06:53We interview them and study them to see if there is any evidence or heavy evidence that they are claiming or will put in front of the Quadcom.
00:07:08We don't want to commit a mistake that we will have a witness who will destroy the reputation of other people that we did not vet.
00:07:20Okay. But it seems like that's what happened. Because the truth is, the resource persons will start to be witnesses and will be accused because you were contempted.
00:07:35There are investigations now for filing cases in court.
00:07:39In all of this, are there witnesses who are congenial or fair to those who are being accused? Because on balance, there are many witnesses who are tragic or hostile.
00:07:59Well, as you know, we are not a court. We are a court of public opinion, so quote unquote.
00:08:10Our aim here in the committee is to give judicial judgments so that these kinds of illegal acts will not happen again and there should be an answer.
00:08:24So what we do is that if someone is committing a crime and they are giving their testimony, we give them a chance to speak. That's why we are inviting them.
00:08:35Unfortunately, some of them are not cooperative. They don't want to speak. They don't want to face the truth and they don't want to give their testimony.
00:08:43For us, the aim of the Quadcom is to give a chance for both sides to speak. The side that is accusing and the side that is being accused.
00:08:53It's not to determine who is guilty. It's to show the picture where the Congress can enter and give judicial judgments.
00:09:04Unfortunately, some of them don't have the courage to face this committee.
00:09:13To be honest, are there any witnesses that you invited who would have been so, so important, but they refused?
00:09:20How is that? Because there are people on the list who are being accused of major crimes. Who are those people?
00:09:28I hope they are on the Quadcom hearings so that the story is complete.
00:09:32You know, this is a revelation. There are two to three witnesses who went to the Quadcom. Some of them wrote their affidavit and faced us.
00:09:47They have their own lawyer. Some of them are asking for a lawyer and we are giving them one. But we are telling them to face us.
00:09:56They are facing us so that they can assist in writing their affidavit.
00:10:04When we determined their stories, their stories are incredible.
00:10:16That's why it's scary. We reached the point where we asked for assistance from Camp Krame to conduct a lie detector test or psychiatric evaluation.
00:10:27These are their witnesses. We rejected three of them because only one of their findings is a psychiatric evaluation.
00:10:37They have signs of being pathological liar. We don't want to entertain this and it may damage the credibility of the Quad.
00:10:47We cannot be trusted anymore if this is the only one.
00:10:51Those three are civilians, from the Uniformed Services, a former senior government official. Who are those three? Can you describe at least?
00:11:01Based on their stories, I will not say what they are, but based on their stories, they are in the loop, in the circle.
00:11:11For example, one is talking about the EJK, the other is in the loop. He could be a gunman, he could be a runner or whatever.
00:11:23The other one is a witness. For example, when the Chinese nationals are buying land, he appears to be assisting or becoming a broker because he's commissioning.
00:11:40The other one is active in our government. Their stories are incredible. That's why we are in doubt.
00:11:53Maybe this is not a good thing, what he's saying. That's why we asked for assistance from the NBI and PNP.
00:12:03The hard work of the Quad will be, like you said, to find out who is telling the truth, who is the one telling the story,
00:12:12and who can be a strong witness for filing a future case.
00:12:20Do you have a kind of amongst yourselves consensus on who is the best or most honest witness and who is on the borderline,
00:12:30as you said, he's not a pathological liar, but he lied and recanted his testimony.
00:12:38Do you have that kind of ranking or rating because in your final report, it will be important.
00:12:43Yes. We have that kind of witnesses. But again, our goal in this investigation is to recommend a much deeper investigation.
00:12:57We are not expert investigators and we will definitely recommend a much deeper investigation to the agencies that have the expertise.
00:13:09There are some people in our committee that I cannot speak on behalf of my colleagues,
00:13:21but they have a lot of weight or a lot of content in what they're saying.
00:13:26But this opinion that came to me, I share this with my colleagues and some of them have different opinions as well.
00:13:36That's why it's hard. But whatever we wrote in the committee report is based on one, the testimonial evidence that we were able to gather.
00:13:49Second, the documentary evidence that we were submitted or the evidence that we are asking for a document that we are not submitting.
00:13:58We were not able to get the side of the accused because he's not cooperating. For example, we asked for a document from a person.
00:14:10Instead of submitting his document, his proof that he has nothing to do with it, he hid it. That's the heavy part.
00:14:21We will definitely write that and include that in our committee report.
00:14:25You mentioned testimonial evidence, although you are not a trier of facts, but you have testimonial evidence via affidavits.
00:14:35You also have documentary evidence or submitted documents. How many revelations or revelatory value documents did you get?
00:14:47I cannot say at the moment, Manolo. Maybe there are a lot. If we put them together, it will form a story based on the opinions of those who read it.
00:15:09That's what we will include in our committee report.
00:15:14Let's go to witnesses that have been discussed by the whole country.
00:15:20Ms. Garma and former President Rodrigo Duterte. What is the thinking of the committee?
00:15:30Did they publicize the whole story? Because we saw how ex-President Duterte was behaving like he was running the show.
00:15:44There were congressmen who pressured the chair that he should not talk without permission. What is that? Did you prepare for President Duterte at the hearing?
00:15:57Honestly Manolo, number one, we're glad that there was an opportunity for our former President to come and answer the questions from the members.
00:16:09Number two, it's good that there was an opportunity for those who accused him to face the facts, or else he cannot answer the questions he was accused of.
00:16:20That's why we always say that this is not a political issue. We want you to have an alternative of your beliefs or opinions on the issues that are being raised.
00:16:34In our preparation, we have always been consistent since day one, Manolo, that we are not one, we follow strictly the rules.
00:16:46We only stick by the rules of the House, especially on rules of procedure in governing inquiries in the field of legislation.
00:16:56If we go out there, we cannot be trusted. It's hard to maintain. Sometimes, we have colleagues who overreach or do not cross the line.
00:17:10We also have resource persons. That's why it's hard to balance. But in that particular hearing, where the former President was present,
00:17:19we saw that he's very cooperative and he's answering his questions. It may not probably answer directly the question of the members,
00:17:35but the fact remains that he answered without, of course, the expletives that come with it.
00:17:44There was a point where the former President wanted to throw the microphone to former Senator Trillanes.
00:17:56The former President and former Senator Laila de Lima were present. So the tension was there from the beginning.
00:18:03But what happened to the moment when you reached the point where you called a recess?
00:18:09What happened? Was there still a verbal dispute?
00:18:13Honestly, I did not witness the commotion. What happened? Why did it start like that?
00:18:21You're right that there's tension between them. We didn't mean for them to side with each other.
00:18:32The right side of the hall is reserved for all resource persons. If you notice, all of them are seated with resource persons.
00:18:44When the former President came in, he was seated with his lawyer. There are vacant seats where Ms. Laila de Lima was also seated.
00:19:00When Trillanes arrived, he couldn't sit anymore. He took the seat of our committee secretary. That's why he was seated there.
00:19:10Contrary to what others think, we intended to sit there. They made a mistake.
00:19:19But the former President came with a battery of lawyers. It's different from other resource persons because it looks like the former President
00:19:29tried to stop the former President because he kept saying that he doesn't have permission or he's going to bat in the ongoing discourse of congressmen and other witnesses.
00:19:41So what do you think about that? You said it looks like he's cooperating. But did he behave?
00:19:47Generally, I think our President cooperated and behaved. Nothing happened like what happened in the Senate. Sorry, but I have to say this.
00:20:01I know.
00:20:02What happened in the Senate, where it's ongoing. The narrative there was it was controlled by the resource person rather than by the committee.
00:20:14It's not from us.
00:20:15I know. That was the comment of many people really.
00:20:18In fairness to the former President, though he came with a battery of lawyers, he's the one who's answering the questions.
00:20:32Because the lawyers of resource persons are limited. But knowing the President, he's a lawyer. He has a long experience in being a lawyer.
00:20:47He also became a prosecutor. So I think he was confident enough to answer the questions from the members.
00:20:54Okay. We were talking about how you said it didn't cross the line, but the other members of your committee.
00:21:02But in the Senate, they have an observation that some senators came and became lawyers to the former President Duterte.
00:21:10For you, there are more questions and confrontations regarding the batting of the former President.
00:21:19What is that? Because of the Senate hearing, the House was prepared better.
00:21:28For me personally, since our third hearing, we have an extended invitation. That's to the former President.
00:21:40Since he's not able to attend, the members can prepare, study well. It's up to them. I will not invite a resource person unless it is the approval of the majority.
00:21:58So in that case, we have an invitation to the senators, we have an invitation to the former President because they are implicated.
00:22:07From the beginning, we told the committee that we will only follow where the evidence leads us when we write our committee report.
00:22:18So in this case, the names of the accused were implicated in the affidavits. So we extended the invitation.
00:22:27Maybe because our former President attended the 11th hearing, since the third hearing, we are already inviting.
00:22:38But you didn't get Senator Bato de la Rosa and Senator Bong Go, whom you want to confront because they are implicated or associated with some of the findings of the committee.
00:22:50That's correct. Until now. Our invitation is open-ended. While we are discussing our topic on extrajudicial killings, war on drugs,
00:23:01our invitation is there for them. Because of the so-called parliamentary courtesy, we respect their decision whether they will attend or not.
00:23:15Okay. Now, people have observed that there are rising stars. Those who are well-prepared for the committee hearings.
00:23:27There are some names who became famous in social media networks. Who are they and what's the difference?
00:23:35Why some of the members of the four committees are standing out even better than the rest?
00:23:41Well, I'm also surprised because when this committee hearing took place, first, this is the idea of former Speaker Romualdez,
00:23:53that in order to save government time and resources of government employees, let's have only one. Number one.
00:24:00Number two, you have the same topic. Your resource person is one. So let's have only one. That's the logic.
00:24:07Third, for the famous adage, two heads are better than one. That's why they are together. We have seen that there are members of the Congress,
00:24:20the batch of congressmen are good. Most of them are young. They stood out in the performance of their lifetime, their political careers.
00:24:35One of the job of a congressman is to participate in investigations or inquiries in aid of legislation. They can share their opinion.
00:24:46What they share is their opinion on national issues. When their national issues are considered, their achievements are on a different level when it comes to their political credentials.
00:25:02But we can see that some are more prepared, better prepared than others.
00:25:07What's different is that now, people are divided between two chambers. It used to be that the Senate was the August Hall.
00:25:17It's like all of our legislation or politics will go to the Senate. But comparatively, the investigation of the House is richer and smarter now.
00:25:31Do you want to comment on that? You were revealed more than in the Senate. In the war on drugs, that's the only hearing.
00:25:43In fairness to our friends in the Senate, some of them were also my colleagues when I started in the 1990s.
00:25:54They are good at that. In fact, most of the laws passed by the Congress are discussed by every chamber.
00:26:08Some laws that were passed are actually sponsored or initiated by the lower house and the Senate is just a counterpart.
00:26:18It's the same. It's equal. It's a good discussion. It's a good exchange of opinion and exchange of opinions.
00:26:28All right. You're being polite. In the Senate, there are two committees. One is focused on POGO and the other one is focused on war on drugs.
00:26:38How will the findings of the two chambers meet? What will happen? Will there be a Quadcom report?
00:26:45The Senate also has a report. Senator Riza Ontiveros already released his findings. Who are the people behind POGO, human trafficking and war on drugs in a way?
00:26:57How will they meet? Have you been talking to each other?
00:27:00As of this time, honestly, we haven't talked to each other. Although, we get some information also from the hearings of the Senate and we use this.
00:27:10That's why, for us, if the Senate is the first one on this topic, when it comes to us discussing this topic,
00:27:17the questions that we want the information to be released to substantiate what was said or what could be the report of the Senate.
00:27:32I'm sure that's what the Senate is doing in the House. I can say that the report is almost identical.
00:27:43In terms of how the law will be the product of these investigations, there might be some differences.
00:27:51But on the point of what recommendations we will make when it comes to accountability, you might be the only one to do that.
00:28:01All right. Now, can we know in summary, 12 hearings, what are the major findings? I know the committee report will have to be drafted.
00:28:09But it seems like people will have a guillotine. What did you prove? What are the things that you can't say with conclusive evidence that this is the right thing to do?
00:28:22Well, I will just probably say that so far, what we have seen is the ephenail of the laws. For example, when it comes to buying land from Chinese nationals,
00:28:40this is not a joke. Thousands of hectares are involved in this. We don't know what their intentions are, why they are buying such a huge amount of land.
00:28:52That's why there's a big question mark. Maybe they will turn this into a field. Why is it so big? Will they turn this into a pogo hub again?
00:29:01That's one. Second, we have seen why there's an influx of Chinese nationals here. We know that the root of this is pogo.
00:29:14Our former President also filed a law to totally ban and not allow all forms of online gambling. That's one.
00:29:26Third, on extrajudicial killings. Although this is a joke, what we are saying is that all forms of, let's say, murder,
00:29:45if a person dies that was not allowed by our state. For example, we don't have a death penalty. So any death that happens is actually a murder,
00:29:59which is already defined under the revised penal code. So what we will do is to define what are extrajudicial killings because we don't want the EJK to remain just a term.
00:30:14Maybe there's something more serious in the event that our death penalty returns. This will be one of the heinous crimes.
00:30:27On the point of EJK, there's the Human Security Act. Is this an offense of individual law enforcers or lawmen or is this a state policy?
00:30:41This will have some bearing. You will also hear if the ICC is on the right track in pursuing crimes against humanity and not just simple separate, isolated, scattered cases.
00:30:59I'm glad you mentioned the ICC. I'd like to reiterate that the Quad has already made our statement with regard to the ICC.
00:31:12We will not cooperate with them. We will not give information or other evidence or other witnesses that went under the Quad. Why?
00:31:22First, because we're not a member of the ICC at the moment. Second, we believe, most of my colleagues in the Quad, that justice is alive here in our country and our justice system is functioning.
00:31:36Though there are considered some kinks, so to speak. Of course, we cannot surrender our justice system to a group of foreigners who have no knowledge of our culture and incidents that are happening here.
00:31:57They are just based on their reports. So we will definitely not consider the ICC, as far as the Quad Com is concerned.
00:32:09It means you will not give testimonies or affidavits?
00:32:14No.
00:32:15Affidavits and evidence or testimonies received, no?
00:32:19Definitely not. We will not authorize the release of documents to the ICC. If the DOJ would ask for it, we will provide the DOJ.
00:32:31In fact, while we are hearing, in all the hearings, the DOJ has created a special task force to monitor and remind the Quad Com.
00:32:43For example, we have a witness, like Col. Santi Mendoza, who spilled the beans against Col. Garma. He was subjected to a preliminary investigation by the DOJ.
00:32:58This was done by the NBI because they are creating a case buildup against personalities that we have assigned to the Quad Com.
00:33:11But Congressman A, you said that the DOJ is developing or building cases. What is the problem?
00:33:18The cases in the Philippines are taking a long time before there is a final and executory ruling.
00:33:26The Court of Appeals from RTC will probably go up to the Supreme Court.
00:33:31How about the quest for justice of the families? Will they wait for 10 to 15 years?
00:33:41That's exactly the kinks that some of us or most of us have identified with the justice system.
00:33:52Of course, I'm sure the executive is now looking into institutionalizing reforms.
00:33:59There's a saying that justice delayed is justice denied.
00:34:03This doctrine is being practiced now and implemented in some cases that are filed before the office of the Ombudsman.
00:34:18Those that were filed 10 years ago, until now, nothing has happened.
00:34:23They are dismissing this on the basis of inordinate delay.
00:34:28I'm sure that's what will happen here in the DOJ in criminal cases.
00:34:32The difference with the ICC, they said that state policy is the key here in the EJK, the war on drugs that took place.
00:34:41If we are in the DOJ track, the courts in the Philippines,
00:34:44what will be pitiful is the boots on the ground that were linked or accused.
00:34:51They are the trigger man, they are the ones who killed, they are the ones who executed the operations against the suspects.
00:34:59How will that be? The senior officers will be fired, especially those who became the author of Oplan Double Barrel.
00:35:09We are not saying that they were clearly accused.
00:35:18But it's clear that the project of former President Duterte was implemented by the Director General of the PNP along with Senator Bato.
00:35:27Supposedly, Senator Bongo was the one who got fired.
00:35:32Those are the accusations. The difference in our court is that the low-ranking officials are likely to be punished.
00:35:42Well yeah, I will not argue with that particular information, because that's what will happen.
00:35:51But I guess we have to perhaps give the DOJ now a chance to really assure the public that they will not delay in investigating these kinds of cases.
00:36:13So we can easily answer who should be answered. I guess, for me alone, I cannot speak on behalf of the members of the committee.
00:36:25Now, we saw, I personally saw that the DOJ created a special task force that consistently has been attending the Quadcom hearings.
00:36:39I'm sure they also attend the Senate hearings.
00:36:42All right. Okay.
00:36:43To be honest, the DOJ investigated something during President Duterte's time,
00:36:48something like a proof of proportionality or reciprocal action.
00:36:55But 54 cases, there's not much progress.
00:36:59There's not many cases that were filed.
00:37:01And for now, our problem is that it will take the whole of the DOJ workforce, the prosecution service to deal with,
00:37:10How many cases? 7,000?
00:37:12Based on the data, almost 7,000.
00:37:15Based on the data of the PNP, but based on the data of the CHR, it can reach more than 20,000.
00:37:23All right. And the time has passed. It's been a long time.
00:37:27What's difficult here is the preservation of evidence.
00:37:31There are no medical or legal reports.
00:37:33So the success rate that there will be a real prosecution of cases is false, right?
00:37:43That's right. There are many incidents that have no police report, which is a total violation of the protocol of our police.
00:37:55We know that they will fire a gun in New York. There's a spot report on that.
00:38:00Who died?
00:38:02I don't know the direction of the DOJ in that area.
00:38:10They're saying the problem is the custody of evidence.
00:38:13It doesn't seem clear.
00:38:15And the protocols, there should be a pre-operation plan.
00:38:18We made a list about that.
00:38:22The PNP is always arrogant.
00:38:24This is how many people were killed.
00:38:26At some point, when the war on drugs ended, it calmed down a bit.
00:38:30But there are a lot of reports of murder under investigation, homicide under investigation, or vigilantes.
00:38:38The human rights defenders said that the markings of the guns are the same, supposedly.
00:38:47So if 7,000 people were killed, there should be that many guns in the custody of evidence.
00:38:55Yes that's correct.
00:38:57If there are that many murder under investigation or homicide under investigation, the evidence should be almost the same.
00:39:07Not necessarily exact, but almost the same.
00:39:11Aside from the evidence in the crime scene, one, the motive should be established.
00:39:17Correct.
00:39:19Number two, is there a background or co-plan?
00:39:25If this is an illegitimate police operation or PDEA, anti-legal drug operation, there must be a co-plan.
00:39:33Correct.
00:39:36You're a batikang police general.
00:39:38Yes.
00:39:40By your fingertips, you should know the process and protocol.
00:39:45I go over the information once in a while.
00:39:49We are looking at it. It can't be that simple.
00:39:54They have a side, the charge to experience.
00:39:58Some of them are done intentionally.
00:40:01For example, someone approached us.
00:40:03He has nothing to do with drugs.
00:40:05He wants to testify that his husband has nothing to do with drugs, but he was killed.
00:40:11But the report states that he is a drug lord.
00:40:15The same thing happened to General Wesley Barayuga.
00:40:21The report of him linking him to the issue of drugs was filed belatedly.
00:40:29The chief of police of Mandaluyong is responsible for that.
00:40:33Who happens to be Colonel Grijaldo at that time.
00:40:37That's a big question mark.
00:40:39It's hard to answer.
00:40:42So that's the hopefulness given by the Quadcom.
00:40:47What might happen is hopelessness, especially when there are so many problems.
00:40:53The issue of fighting is not yet addressed.
00:40:57In the medical legal reports that were made later on,
00:41:01the independent experts said that no matter how they fight,
00:41:05the hand is tied at the back.
00:41:07So they fought, but the bullet hit the head.
00:41:12You're right on that.
00:41:14There are many stories like that that were brought to us.
00:41:19In the medical legal report, he was shot in the head.
00:41:23Since the question of the bullet hitting the head,
00:41:28all those who implemented the so-called fight,
00:41:33the encounter, the shooting,
00:41:35the bullet hit the heart.
00:41:37So maybe the head was avoided.
00:41:40That remains to be a big question mark as well.
00:41:45He was shot in the heart, but he was lying down.
00:41:50He was shot in the heart while lying down.
00:41:56There are many questions here.
00:41:59This is very difficult.
00:42:01We leave it up to the expertise of the agencies that will conduct the in-depth investigation.
00:42:09Do you think the DOJ is up to the bar of performance here?
00:42:15Because they have few people,
00:42:17and they want to do a lot for now.
00:42:20These cases have been going on for a long time.
00:42:23It's hard to get evidence.
00:42:25The witnesses are afraid.
00:42:27How can we have hope that there will be justice for the victims?
00:42:36We at QUADCOM, we have to give all the support that we can give
00:42:44to the government agency in charge.
00:42:48The hope that the QUAD somehow extends to the victims,
00:42:56we hope that we will be guided and helped with more people wanting to expose details or witness,
00:43:07more information that we can use as basis to recommend whatever recommendations we would make.
00:43:16We at QUAD, we are also hoping that we can perform at the level of the expectation of our people.
00:43:28That's what we are always praying for.
00:43:31There was a panel, but it didn't take off.
00:43:35They said there should be a truth commission to monitor the details
00:43:42and there should be a war on drugs.
00:43:44What do you think?
00:43:46We still consider that.
00:43:48In fact, that might be one of our recommendations to do.
00:43:52Someone proposed that and we did not deny it.
00:43:58We believe that with all this,
00:44:00even if we adjourn, there should be a whole truth commission to continue the investigation.
00:44:10There will be a strong will of others to face the truth commission.
00:44:15We are limited because if the Congress adjourns,
00:44:20we will no longer have a function.
00:44:22We cannot adjourn CND.
00:44:26Especially, the election is near, in May 2025.
00:44:32All right.
00:44:34You mentioned the proposed laws that you want to look at.
00:44:38You said that the acquisition of land or real properties
00:44:43to Chinese and foreign nationals
00:44:45or the definition of murder.
00:44:49It should be clear or a JK.
00:44:52The other issues, for example,
00:44:56not only to you, but to the other committee of the Congress
00:44:59that is hearing the confidential and intelligence funds.
00:45:02It's like a liquidation by certification.
00:45:06There are a lot of confidential and intelligence funds
00:45:10not only in the office of the former Vice President or Deputy Secretary,
00:45:14Ms. Sara Duterte, but all over the place.
00:45:17Finally, the Bank Secrecy Act.
00:45:20For a long time, they have been trying to lift that
00:45:24because of the Anti-Money Laundering Council
00:45:27and the FATF, the National Convention Against Corruption.
00:45:32This is one of the reasons why the Philippines is still on the gray list.
00:45:36We are the only country that has a Bank Secrecy Act.
00:45:39So confidential and intelligence funds, would you agree?
00:45:42Is there a better legislation to regulate, monitor,
00:45:46and make it more transparent?
00:45:48Yes, there is.
00:45:50But I will leave it up to the Committee on Good Government
00:45:54to make that announcement.
00:45:56There are draft laws there.
00:45:58There are also drafts by the Quadcom
00:46:01on the relaxation of the Bank Secrecy Law,
00:46:05especially on these kinds of investigations involving,
00:46:09let's say, political personalities.
00:46:13Those are one.
00:46:14There are two.
00:46:15We also have...
00:46:16All of these, if I'm not mistaken,
00:46:19there are around 14 to 15 proposed legislations that we will issue.
00:46:28Aside from those that we already filed.
00:46:30Now that the Quad Committee is ending,
00:46:34we will put it in the report.
00:46:36There are also many proposed amendments to the Passport Act
00:46:41because there are many Chinese who were issued a Filipino passport.
00:46:47Can you imagine a Chinese criminal, for example,
00:46:52a fugitive coming to the Philippines,
00:46:55he becomes a Filipino.
00:46:57If he's a Filipino, he can already buy properties,
00:47:00he can already organize a corporation and all these things.
00:47:03Second, the point that we also filed about the late registration procedure,
00:47:10because it's obvious.
00:47:13Some are 19 years old, like Alice Goh.
00:47:16She filed for a late registration of birth when she was already 19 years old.
00:47:25There are many like that.
00:47:26She bought land in a town in Pampanga, in Mexico, Pampanga,
00:47:31where she built a warehouse that has 5.6 billion worth of shabu that she earned.
00:47:39She's Chinese.
00:47:41Perhaps several amendments to the Republic Act 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.
00:47:51There are also amendments to the Corporation Code of the Philippines that we will file.
00:47:58There are also amendments to the SEC Charter that we will also amend.
00:48:03There are many amendments that we will file.
00:48:06When all is said and done, it's like people's observation,
00:48:11the Quadcomp and the investigations of the Committee on Good Governance of the Congress
00:48:17and the Duterte family.
00:48:18They say, there's something right in what Vice President Sara is saying,
00:48:23why only me? Why don't you investigate others?
00:48:26For example, the President of the BDM has a Confidential Intelligence Fund.
00:48:30The Speaker has a Confidential Intelligence Fund.
00:48:33Why only them?
00:48:34Is this the end?
00:48:36Is it really just a political fight?
00:48:38What you did to the Duterte family is an impression of people.
00:48:44The investigation of the Committee on Good Governance came from a privileged speech delivered by Congressman Valeriano.
00:48:57There is also a resolution that was filed by some members of the Congress
00:49:03to stop the distribution of intelligence funds to non-military or law enforcement agencies.
00:49:15These are all included.
00:49:19It's just a coincidence that the former administration is often mentioned.
00:49:26Because there are policies of the previous administration that are being questioned,
00:49:33because it results in bad results.
00:49:36For example, the passing of Executive Order No. 13,
00:49:42which allows the issuance of COGO outside of the Cagayan Exclusive Economic Zone.
00:49:50Why did that happen? It's a law.
00:49:54The Executive Order cannot amend an existing law.
00:49:59The authority given to Chinese nationals and foreign nationals
00:50:06to have 100 percent full ownership on corporations that are operating online.
00:50:13Correct.
00:50:14That's why it's mentioned because these are policies that were issued before.
00:50:19But how can you disabuse the minds of these people?
00:50:23Because the unity has been broken.
00:50:27There are rumors that Speaker Martin Romualdez wants to run for office in 2028.
00:50:35That's what Vice President Sara is hinting at.
00:50:38Unfortunately, the discourse has become toxic.
00:50:42There is corruption, there are plans to kill,
00:50:46there are soldiers who joined to overthrow this government.
00:50:51You cannot make people forget that they are fighting.
00:50:57That's correct.
00:50:59Now it's clear that there is a fierce conflict
00:51:03because hate statements are coming out from every camp.
00:51:10When it comes to corruption, there are many allegations of corruption.
00:51:16This is corrupt, that is corrupt.
00:51:18We are talking about this.
00:51:20Go to the Congress.
00:51:22If you have confidence in Quadcom, give us information.
00:51:28If you have a congressman who is supporting you,
00:51:34give us evidence that you want us to conduct an investigation.
00:51:39We will talk to them.
00:51:41Until there are no proof nor evidence confirming that there was corruption that was happening,
00:51:52it will remain a haka-haka.
00:51:55It will remain a marites.
00:51:57That's what makes me sad because it's easy to accuse.
00:52:02All right.
00:52:03But Ace, what people are saying is that if it's like that,
00:52:07the big fish will get away anyway.
00:52:09The big fish will get away, especially when it comes to elections.
00:52:16Of course, you need support.
00:52:19If you're talking about the Mindanao votes,
00:52:21the Dutertes are still an important factor.
00:52:26You know what the surveys are saying.
00:52:29Of course, there is an increase in trust in President BBM,
00:52:33but the trust in Vice President Sara is still high.
00:52:37And unfortunately, we're faced with the situation that
00:52:40what is the role of the people here?
00:52:42Just watch the sidelines?
00:52:44How do you propose that there will be a detente or clarification?
00:52:51Or just a prelude and think about the people and the issues of the people.
00:52:56I agree.
00:52:57We should think about the issues of the people.
00:53:00Because we are in a position to serve them.
00:53:06Because they are the majority and they need support.
00:53:11Our relatives are not politicians.
00:53:15It's sad to say that although the majority of the incumbent politicians
00:53:23share the same opinion with me when it comes to serving our countrymen in need,
00:53:32this has not reached the right... I don't know how to say it,
00:53:39but this should be communicated.
00:53:42We can see that our government is doing something.
00:53:46The role of the government is big in helping our countrymen.
00:53:50But the way to communicate this is I think a very important factor.
00:53:56Because you know, with the advent of social media,
00:54:01many of our fellow Filipinos suddenly became political analysts,
00:54:07became journalists.
00:54:09Some of them actually became pseudo-heroes.
00:54:14For example, they are helping the people,
00:54:19but their objective is to increase their shares and likes so they can be monetized.
00:54:25Analytics.
00:54:26Yes. That's analytics. They need big data.
00:54:30I guess that's one thing. The Congress should study this.
00:54:35This will reduce the number of so-called journalists,
00:54:41social media journalists and so-called critics.
00:54:45I have no problem if they criticize me.
00:54:48Personally, I have no problem if they criticize me.
00:54:52But if you make me laugh with fake news, that's a big issue.
00:54:58It seems that when people spread fake news,
00:55:04there is a big majority of Filipinos who believe.
00:55:08Because many likes and shares of this blogger.
00:55:12Many bloggers suddenly have their own platform.
00:55:16Okay. But of course, it hurts if the commentaries or the criticisms become too personal.
00:55:25The problem is, I'm thinking,
00:55:27do you have a way to have clear issues that don't need to be discussed or verbally?
00:55:35It's like they're almost killing each other in words and by their actions.
00:55:40Because what happens is, even people are fighting,
00:55:44but there will be elections, so will our time be toxic?
00:55:49Where will the mediation process come from?
00:55:52What should be done on both sides?
00:55:55That's a good question for me.
00:55:57This is just my personal opinion.
00:55:59First, this should be stopped.
00:56:03Second, we should not stop the ongoing investigation of the wrongdoings that happened.
00:56:16Number three, when it comes to elections, we should choose the right person.
00:56:23It's very hard because it's very subjective.
00:56:28That's why we should choose the right person.
00:56:34We should do our best to show the true colors of every representative of the country.
00:56:42There are people who are eloquent and articulate in delivering speeches.
00:56:47But they have different motives for running.
00:56:50So we should be observant and smart.
00:56:55Okay. Last question Cong.
00:56:57What is the role of Speaker Martin Romualdez and President BBM in the investigation,
00:57:07in the investigation of Duterte?
00:57:09Just to be clear, not many people are happy with the way Vice President Sara is behaving and talking.
00:57:16But they don't let go of the point that their opponent is Speaker Martin,
00:57:22who wants to run in 2028, and President BBM, who has promises that he will run.
00:57:28So what is their role?
00:57:30Are they the ones directing the investigations in Congress?
00:57:35Or are they the ones behind the focus on Duterte as the main target of inquiry?
00:57:42Well, number one, our President has no influence in the investigation of Congress.
00:57:53Even before this fight happened, after the 2022 Uniteam election,
00:58:01there were investigations like this.
00:58:04It was done alone and it was called a quad bomb.
00:58:07So there is no influence, nor pressure, nor even instructions for this kind of investigation.
00:58:14That's clear.
00:58:16That's what our Congressmen will say.
00:58:22Number two, regarding the role of our Speaker,
00:58:26our Speaker has no influence in that.
00:58:31I'm not trying to defend the Speaker, but I just want to be clear about this.
00:58:36For example, in my committee, the Committee on Dangerous Drugs,
00:58:40I am investigating on who is the source of the drug and who is behind it.
00:58:47It happened that there are personalities involved in this.
00:58:54For example, Michael Yang.
00:58:56It was mentioned that there's Michael Yang.
00:58:59It was mentioned that there's Alan Lim.
00:59:01It was mentioned that there's a former president.
00:59:03I'm not saying anything. We're not saying anything.
00:59:06He's guilty. Why?
00:59:08He's a politician. He has many friends.
00:59:10Sometimes, many people are taking pictures of him.
00:59:12You don't know who he is.
00:59:14Sir can I take a picture of you?
00:59:16Wait. Are you involved in drugs? Are you involved in corruption? Are you involved in crime?
00:59:20We're not asking that. They want to take a picture of us.
00:59:23So to me, honestly, and I think the majority of the members of Congress will share this view,
00:59:30Speaker Martin has no influence in this.
00:59:33Maybe some people will believe that this is the reason for this investigation.
00:59:39Because he has an ambition in politics in 2028.
00:59:43You're not saying that he has an ambition for us in 2028.
00:59:48We only invite people because that is where the documentary evidence or testimonial evidence leads us.
00:59:57I'm sure that also goes the same with the other committees.
01:00:02I have no influence. Honestly, I have no influence.
01:00:06There's no impeachment proposal?
01:00:09I don't know about that. We haven't talked about it.
01:00:14If there are such plans, we haven't talked about it in the quadcom because it's not under germane in the topic of the four committees.
01:00:26Until when can we wait to see the quadcom report?
01:00:32I will just add one more thing. That's why there are such accusations.
01:00:37Sometimes, the feelings of our fellow countrymen are mixed up.
01:00:44This is what I'm saying about social media.
01:00:48I'm sure you also experienced that. With the advent of the social media and the pseudo-journalists,
01:00:56or they suddenly became political analysts.
01:00:59This is what gives hot information.
01:01:03Sometimes, they just do it and when it reaches the principals, their heads get hot.
01:01:09In fairness, both sides have good points.
01:01:16So we, as fellow countrymen, should go to the middle.
01:01:23That's what I think we should look at.
01:01:27I was happy when I read this morning that this is not affecting our economy.
01:01:35Pedicrating.
01:01:36Yes. I'm also nervous that this will affect us.
01:01:40But I'm glad that no less than Secretary Balisaca made that statement.
01:01:45Meaning, it's normal, especially when the election is near, to read these kinds of stories.
01:01:54So Filipinos should be observant and smart.
01:01:58When will the report be released? Can we expect this before Christmas?
01:02:02This is like your Christmas gift to the people of the country.
01:02:05To be honest, after 12 hearings, it seems that we already have a draft of our report.
01:02:16But every time there's a hearing, something new comes out that we cannot ignore.
01:02:23It won't end this year?
01:02:24We're praying that this will end this year because Congress will take a break next month.
01:02:31Before we go on break, we can already file this committee report because we believe that our information is substantial enough for us to file the proposed legislation.
01:02:43Our objective is to file this proposed legislation and of course, recommend probably actions to ensure accountability of people in government.
01:02:55But maybe we can file a preliminary report because if this is like a telenovela that has no end, people might get fed up and you will take a break.
01:03:05I absolutely agree. Others think that this is a telenovela.
01:03:12That's not true. We don't like to watch telenovelas.
01:03:17We cannot ignore and give the opportunity for this to come out because this is the release of the truth.
01:03:27If we stop this, we will not be the instrument to release the truth.
01:03:32Remember, when we first started, we said that this is not a policy. The only objective is to ferret out the truth.
01:03:42The key is if you have a drafting committee. Who will write and present the testimony, affidavits and documents? That's the first hurdle.
01:03:54Yes. Yes. That's correct.
01:03:56Who will write from the committee? Who will be the lead?
01:04:01Actually, I'm the lead chair, which follows that the lead committee is the committee on dangerous drugs.
01:04:10Of course, I will be supported by a secretariat with the different committee secretaries of the three other co-chairs.
01:04:20We also have a house legal team that assists us.
01:04:24So whatever we write in this committee report will be based on what we were able to gather in the committee hearing from resource persons,
01:04:34affidavits that were submitted to us and of course, documentary evidence.
01:04:38Our plan is that we will write it and submit it to all the committee reporters.
01:04:45We will recommend it to the agencies that should be consulted.
01:04:48If it's a bit late, your staff might be able to celebrate Christmas.
01:04:54If it will take a long time, there's no end to it because you will have hearings, which is a good thing to do.
01:05:01You have gathered a lot in 12 hearings.
01:05:05If it will take a long time, it might be Christmas, new year, and charisma.
01:05:12Actually, regarding POGO, we are now ready to terminate this.
01:05:19All right.
01:05:20Regarding EJK, I think it will be another hearing if the affidavits submitted to us will continue.
01:05:29All right.
01:05:30That's a requirement. You should submit an affidavit, we will look into it, we will vet you,
01:05:35and our legal team will interview you. If you can submit it, we will submit it to you.
01:05:40I hope there will be a repository of all the things that happened.
01:05:44Although you have house transcripts that will be released, but maybe to refresh the minds of people from committee,
01:05:53from Quadcom hearing 1, August 16 onward, these are the people who appeared.
01:05:58That could be the beginning of a draft committee report.
01:06:02Yes. That's correct. The first hearing up to the last hearing, all of those were summarized,
01:06:11just as a preparatory statement in our committee report.
01:06:16Regarding drugs, because of the developments, Senator Trejanes filed a case.
01:06:26He filed a drug case, a violation of the drugs law.
01:06:33Since we're talking about drugs, we can consider what evidence it has.
01:06:40So we can recommend it to our committee report.
01:06:44Even the bank accounts of President Duterte.
01:06:47That's right. When he released it, we just take it as a notice.
01:06:53We take it as an information, but use that as an evidence in the investigation.
01:07:00We might not be able to use it because we don't have a certification.
01:07:04We have to get a certification either from the bank or from the Anti-Money Laundering Council.
01:07:10I'm confused because of the many issues that were brought up in your hearings,
01:07:16and the many witnesses and resource persons who came.
01:07:19You don't know, the expectations of QUADCOM are very high.
01:07:24Maybe it will yield a good result by way of justice to the families or even clarity of our current law.
01:07:34Yes. That's right. Our mandate is very clear.
01:07:38We are not a court. We are not saying that Juan is guilty, Pedro is guilty, Maria is guilty.
01:07:45We are not like that. We will only state for the record what we were able to gather as far as information,
01:07:53testimonial evidence, documentary evidence.
01:07:58That's where we will go. We are not a court. We are a committee.
01:08:07Our goal is to thank the laws for the good of our country.
01:08:14Do you have an idea how many pages of documents you have, how many pages of affidavits?
01:08:20Is that big enough volume of documents to fill one room?
01:08:25Well, if I see those documents in the place where we store them, I get confused.
01:08:32That's why we only get... these are all scanned and these are all... they have soft copies also.
01:08:42So I cannot really say, but there are many.
01:08:47On that note, we will thank you Congressman Ace Barbers, the head of the Quadcom
01:08:56and representative of the 2nd District of Surigao del Norte.
01:09:01Have a good day and good luck in writing the Quadcom report.
01:09:05Thank you very much, thank you very much Malu and thank you for having me.
01:09:16www.quadcom.org