THE reported readiness of former President Rodrigo Roa Duterte to finally face the House Quad Comm to answer questions on his bloody war on drugs, which resulted in the death of thousands of drug suspects and innocent civilians, was just propaganda.
Quad Comm members expressed this consensus Tuesday since the mega panel has already decided to cancel its 11th hearing for Wednesday before vloggers claimed on social media that the former president would attend the inquiry, and that the committee received no formal response from Duterte or his camp.
However, lead panel chairman Rep. Robert Ace Barbers of Surigao del Norte told a news conference that Quad Comm hopes the ex-leader would accept another invitation to attend its inquiry on Nov. 21 or any day after that at his convenience.
House Assistant Majority Leader Jay Khonghun said, “Kung wala naman talagang direct statement ang ating former President na darating siya (bukas), tingin namin propaganda lang ‘yung lumalabas sa internet, sa social media, na darating siya.”
“Talagang propaganda lang ginagawa nila, lalong-lalo na pag sinasabi nilang pag-attend sa committee hearing ng Quad Comm, talagang nabubudul-budol ang ating mga mamamayan regarding sa kung ano ang kanilang sinasabing statement,” he said.
Barbers said the joint committee sent a notice of cancellation of tomorrow’s hearing to Duterte’s lawyer Martin Delgra lll at 10:53 Monday night.
He said Delgra acknowledged receipt of the notice at 7:14 this morning.
Barbers said the former president or his lawyer on record should have formally communicated to Quad Comm his supposed acceptance of the committee’s invitation to tomorrow’s (Wednesday) hearing before it was cancelled.
The panel postponed its hearing to allow it to interview and vet more witnesses.
“Yun lang ho ‘yung hinihintay namin na information. So kung social media, wala hong pupunta. Kung nagtatawag kayo sa social media, parang disrespect ‘yan sa atin dito sa sistema ng ating invitation. Do not invite in the social media. Kung gusto nyo, sumagot kayo, sulatan nyo kami kung kayo ay pupunta,” Barbers said.
“Of course we appreciate kung pupunta ang ating dating pangulo dahil ‘yan ang request ng ating kasamahan sa Quad Comm na magkaroon ng talakayan, magkaroon ng palitan ng idea tungkol sa usapin sa EJK (extrajudicial killing) at usapin sa drugs kung saan ay centerpiece ng kampanya ng ating dating administration,” he said.
He said there were comments from vloggers that Quad Comm “chickened out” by postponing its hearing.
“Wala pong naduduwag dito. Ganito ho, para ho malinaw, sa Nov. 21 meron kaming hearing. Yan ho, punta ho tayo dito. Pagkatapos ng 21, let us know kung kailan kayo pwede because we will schedule another Quad Comm hearing on the date convenient for you, on the date na gusto niyo, para mailatag natin ng maayos ang ating invitation,” he added.
Barbers revealed that until Tuesday, other than Delgra’s acknowledgement of receipt of the committee’s notice of cancellation, the panel has not receive any communication from Duterte’s camp about his alleged readiness to face Quad Comm.
“Wala po kaming natatanggap hanggang sa ngayon. Ang nakikita lang namain ‘yun mga vloggers. So, hindi ho namin pinakikinggan ‘yung mga vloggers. Wala naman hong sinabing tama ‘yan,” he said.
Quad Comm co-chairman Rep. Dan Fernandez of Santa Rosa City in Laguna said an invited resource person has to officially inform the joint panel of his acceptance of its invitation.
“Huwag po sa social media…kasi ‘pag social media, you can always deny it. Pwede kang hindi pumunta tapos sabihin eh hindi naman formal yan. But of course kapag ginawa po nating official ang lahat, then resibo po yan. So I hope prior to Nov. 21 hearing, somebody or the lawyer of the former President will write the committee for his attendance,” Fernandez said.
Fernandez expressed the suspicion that pro-Duterte vloggers fabricated the story that the former president was willing to attend Quad Comm’s hearing.
“Sa tingin ko, sinadya yon…’yun yung style nila to make it appear na tayo yung umaatras sa ganitong klaseng invitation, whereas we’ve been asking him for so many hearings already. If I’m not mistaken, doon pa lang sa committee ng EJK ng human rights, months ago pa ‘yan, in-invite na po ni Chairman (Bienvenido) Abante and they declined,” he said.
For his part, Abante reiterated the willingness of Quad Comm members to contribute for the expenses of Duterte’s group in case he finally testifies before the joint panel.
“We’re willing to chip-in kung talagang kinakailangan…kami naman, we would like the people to know that we have high respect for the former President, and we really want to hear his side of the issue. Kahit na po maraming siyang nasabi sa Senado, it’s up to him actually, it’s up to him. Hindi naman niya sinabi personally na pupunta siya, it was actually his lawyer who said it. So, it’s up to him. If he’d like to come, very much welcome siya,” he said.
Another panel member, 1-Rider Party-list Rep. Rodge Gutierrez urged Duterte to show up on Nov. 21 even if he has declared that he had nothing more to say on his brutal war on drugs after his Senate testimony last Oct. 28.
“So ‘pag sinasabi po nila na they have nothing more to say, I think kami po sa komite ay maraming katanungan. So, we hope that they do reconsider. When he appeared before the Senate and he made those pronouncements, I think it left more questions than answers. So…take the invitation and answer the questions of our members,” he said.
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