House forms ‘quad comm’ to probe links between POGOs, EJKs, drugs, Chinese syndicates

MANILA, Philippines – The House of Representatives has formed a mega-panel to identify the links between Philippine offshore gaming operators (POGOs), Chinese syndicates, the illegal drug trade, and extrajudicial killings in the country.

Lawmakers were quick to clarify that the move is not meant to investigate the controversies under the administration of former president Rodrigo Duterte.

The so-called “quad comm” is composed of the following panels:

• Dangerous drugs committee, headed by Surigao del Norte 2nd District Representative Ace Barbers
• Human rights committee, headed by Manila 6th District Representative Bienvenido Abante
• Public accounts committee, headed by Abang Lingkod Representative Caraps Paduano
• Public order and safety committee, headed by Santa Rosa, Laguna Representative Dan Fernandez

In a press conference on Wednesday, August 7, Barbers explained that the four committees have “overlapping and commonalities” in the issues they are discussing.

“There seems to be a criminal organization operating within the country where drug money is being used to corrupt certain government officials in order to secure fake and spurious documents to misrepresent themselves as Filipinos to be able to acquire properties or lands in the country…where legitimate fronts of POGOs are being built,” Barbers said.

Abante also justified the inclusion of his committee — as well as the subject of EJKs — into the quad comm.

“There might be a quota system in the Philippine National Police, number one. Number two, that means there is a reward system. That means if you kill a drug pusher, you get a reward,” Abante explained. “We would like to find out where the money is coming from, because we found out, that’s POGO money, that’s gambling money.”

Abante’s committee has been conducting hearings to investigate state-sanctioned killings under the Duterte administration, while Fernandez’s and Paduano’s panels have been jointly holding proceedings to dig deeper into the criminal activities linked to POGOs.

Individual committees are expected to wrap up their own hearings, and the “quad comm” is scheduled to formally convene on August 15.

Invitation to Duterte, Dela Rosa

The “quad comm” will send invitations to former president Duterte and Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa, who was Duterte’s first police chief and architect of his bloody drug war.

During the Duterte administration, the number of POGOs – many of which were operated by Chinese businessmen and whose customers included people in China where gambling is illegal – grew exponentially.

Both Duterte and Dela Rosa have showed unwillingness to participate in the House proceedings after snubbing the chamber’s drug war probe in recent months. Abante decided not to compel Duterte to explain his absence though, out of respect for the former president.

But what if Duterte chooses not to show up again?

“[In terms of] trying to issue a show-cause order, most likely we will be refraining from such an action. In the meantime, the chairman and the members are talking about different kinds of options. Let’s not talk about it for now. Let it flow the natural way,” Fernandez said.

The “quad comm,” however, insisted that the probe is not meant to pin down the Dutertes, whose falling out with the Marcos family has spilled into public view in the past year.

The House is led by Speaker Martin Romualdez, cousin of the President.

“This has nothing to do with political or anything of the previous administration. No. It just so happens that the current administration is still new, and many are government agencies or personalities in the agencies that are mentioned to be involved in these shenanigans,” Barbers said. – Rappler.com

(All quotes in Filipino have been translated into English, and some were shortened for brevity.)