By Dean Aubrey Caratiquet
On Sunday, Quad-Committee chairman and Surigao del Norte Rep. Robert Ace Barbers declared the mega-committee’s intention to present an initial report on its exhaustive inquiries into illegal drugs and its connection to illicit Philippine offshore gambling operators (POGOs) and extrajudicial killings during the Duterte administration.
He said the Quad-Comm is presenting a “progress report” so the several remedial legislative measures its leaders and members have filed and would be filing could soon be processed.
“The reason kasi why we will submit this in the plenary ’yong progress report, kasi there are things na dapat maaksiyunan na kaagad,” Rep. Barbers said, stressing that the report would be submitted before the Congress starts its Christmas recess on December 21.
“Halimabawa, ’no, ’yong mga proposed legislation na ifinile namin, no, we are hoping na because this is the output of Quad-Comm… eh dapat siguro, kung pupuwede, maisama sa legislative agenda ng ating Pangulo or baka suwertehin pa tayo, ma-certify as urgent yong bill, ’no, nang sa gano’n yong counterpart naman sa Senate ay gumawa din at kumilos din. So basically, this is the intention of the progress report, para ma-dispose na namin ’yan,” he explained further.
Barbers pointed out that Quad-Comm members have introduced at least four remedial measures, noting that the plenary could also recommend to President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. the inclusion of measures in his priority legislative agenda or classify these as urgent to enable Congress to expedite the approval process.
“Importante ’yan kasi, if I’m not mistaken, mayroon kaming mga apat na proposed legislation na diyan tungkol sa amendments to the Republic Act No. 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002,” the Mindanao representative emphasized.
“So maaaring ma-consider din ito bilang priority legislation. So sana, this is what we are hoping for na [kapag majority of the plenary members ay mag-agree] and vote in support of this report, then perhaps it will give a signal that this should be included in the legislative agenda of our President,” he added further.
Intervening legislation in the cards for Quad-Comm’s ongoing probe on several pressing issues
Among the remedial pieces of legislation the Quad-Comm has proposed is a bill defining extrajudicial killing as a heinous crime and imposing the maximum penalty on offenders, and the proposal to create an inter-agency government committee led by the Philippine Statistics Authority that would expedite the administrative cancellation of questionable birth certificates.
The discovery of the latter has revealed several Chinese nationals who have acquired Filipino citizenship and exploited this loophole to form corporations and purchase properties that they used for illegal activities.
One notable example involved a warehouse in Barangay San Jose Malino in Mexico town, Pampanga, where authorities seized a P3.6-billion worth of shabu shipment in September 2023.
Barbers said the Quad-Comm’s initial progress report would also include recommendations for the filing of charges against individuals linked to illegal drugs, illicit POGOs, and EJKs, and for the concerned government agencies to actively pursue such cases.
“Mayroon tayong nirerekomenda d’yan based on testimonial evidence and documentary evidence. Eh nakita namin na siguro it’s high time that we report this out and let the appropriate agency conduct further investigation on EJK, mayroon din sa POGO and drugs,” he declared. (with report from Mela Lesmoras/PTV News)
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