MANILA, Philippines — The quad committee of the House of Representatives will be coming out with an “initial report” on its inquiries into illegal drugs and their links to Philippine offshore gaming operations (POGOs) and extrajudicial killings (EJKs) during the Duterte administration before Congress goes on a Christmas break on Dec. 20dragon dream, a senior administration lawmaker disclosed yesterday.
The panel will be also recommending four pieces of legislation when its report is released to the plenary.
“The reason why we will submit (the initial report) in the plenary is that this is a progress report, and because there are things that really need to be acted upon the soonest, like our proposed legislation that we have already filed. This is the output of the quad comm,” Surigao del Norte 2nd District Rep. Robert Ace Barbers, lead and presiding chairman of the quad comm said.
Barbers added that the House plenary, of which more than 300 members are part of, could suggest to President Marcos to include the measures in his priority legislative agenda, or better yet, to certify them as urgent so that Congress could expedite the approval process.
Among the “remedial pieces of legislation” that the quad comm is proposing are a bill defining EJK as a heinous crime and imposing the maximum penalty on offenders, and a bill creating an inter-agency government committee led by the Philippine Statistics Authority that would expedite the administrative cancellation of questionable birth certificates.
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.
In the course of its inquiry, the mega panel – whose co-chairmen include Representatives Dan Fernandez (Santa Rosa, Laguna), Bienvenido Abante (Manila’s sixth district) and Joseph Stephen Paduano (Abang Lingkod party-list) – has discovered that several Chinese nationals have acquired Filipino citizenship using fraudulently acquired birth certificates.
Barbers chairs the House committee on dangerous drugs; Fernandez, the committee on public order and safety; Abante, the human rights committee and Paduano, the committee on public accounts.
Barbers pointed out that quad comm members have introduced at least four remedial measures.
Suspension warningMeanwhile, Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian has warned local government officials that they might face suspension similar to Porac, Pampanga Mayor Jaime Capil for his alleged failure to address POGOs in their jurisdictions.
Gatchalian underscored the importance of holding local government officials accountable for illegal POGOs in their jurisdictions.
“There is a precedent that local government chief executives could be suspended when POGOs enter their place,” he said.
As the national government intensifies its stance against POGOs, the senator highlighted the critical role of local officials in ensuring compliance and accountability at the grassroots level.
He stressed that local government officials are duty-bound to implement the national government’s policies, especially in light of Marcos’ directive of banning POGOs in the country.
The Office of the Ombudsman has served a six-month preventive suspension against Capil due to alleged negligence in overseeing a POGO operation in his locality.
Gatchalian noted that one of the reasons for the suspension was the mayor’s failure to inspect the establishment and the issuance of permits that did not align with the nature of the business.
The senator also discussed the distinction between negligence and direct involvement in illegal activities, citing the case of dismissed Bamban, Tarlac mayor Alice Guodragon dream, who is facing allegations of active complicity in enabling POGO operations.