Abante defends rights panel’s role in joint probe on EJKs, drugs, Pogos

Manila Rep. Bienvenido Abante Jr., chair of the House committee on human rights, delivers his speech during the start of the panel’s hearing on the extrajudicial killings during the administration of former President Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs on Tuesday, May 21, 2024 (Photo screengrab from House of Representatives YouTube livestream)

MANILA, Philippines — Information that money from Philippine offshore gaming operators (Pogo) was allegedly used to reward police officers who killed drug suspects is enough reason for the human rights panel to be included in the House of Representatives’ quad-committee probe.

Manila 6th District Rep. Bienvenido Abante Jr. made this revelation during a press briefing on Wednesday at the Batasang Pambansa complex, after being asked why the House committee on human rights, which he heads,  is part of the quad-committee.

The quad-committee, composed of the committees on human rights, dangerous drugs, public order and safety, and public accounts, will be investigating links between Pogos and illegal drugs discovered in early 2024. The human rights panel, headed by Abante, is also investigating alleged extrajudicial killings during the Duterte administration.

READ: Quad-committee probe on EJKs, Pogos not aimed at Dutertes – panel

“There is an exchange of money here, I mean we have seen that there might be a quota system in the Philippine National Police (PNP), number one.  Although it is being denied by some, there are officers who admitted to this.  Second, there’s a reward system, this means that if you were able to kill a drug suspect, you will be given a reward,” Abante said.

“We discovered — this is a testimony of one of the police that we have asked, officers — that they get P20,000 to P60,000. We’d like to find out why, we’d like to find out where the money came from because we have information that it came from Pogo money, from gambling money,” he added.  “The exchange of money, that’s from Pogo, gambling money paid to our police.”

During the drug war implemented under former President Rodrigo Duterte’s term, the PNP was criticized for a bloody campaign, leading some sectors to speculate that police officers have to comply with a quota on drug operations.

READ: Albayalde maintains: No quota system in drug war when I was PNP chief 

In August 2023, no less than former police colonel and now 1-Rider party-list Rep. Bonifacio Bosita claimed that there was a quota system inside the PNP, where officers are required to comply with a minimum number of drug busts per week.

However, former PNP chief Gen. Oscar Albayalde said in May 2024 that there was no direct or indirect instruction for the PNP to have a quota system in terms of drug war accomplishments during his time in office.

Albayalde was the second PNP chief appointed by Duterte.

Torture, human trafficking

Surigao del Norte 2nd District Rep. Robert Ace Barbers, who heads the committee on dangerous drugs, meanwhile said that investigating Pogos has a human rights component because many of the workers were forced to work for long hours, aside from incidents of torture, sexual abuse, and even murder.

Barbers was referring to reports from the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission, which stated that some foreign nationals were sold to Pogo hubs, with many being tortured if they attempted to escape.

“Aside from what was shown in the committee on public order, the torture that was done on employees of Pogos, there is a big part where human rights will be involved because it’s kasi forced labor eh, PAOCC said that employees were forced to work more than eighteen hours, imagine, just to achieve their quota,” Barbers said.

“So that’s one part of the human rights issue that we should look at, aside from the murder committed against Pogo employees, the torture, the human trafficking incidents, kidnapping, it’s all there,” he added.

READ: House OKs reso tasking panels to jointly probe Pogo, drugs, EJK issues 

These killing incidents, Antipolo 2nd District Rep. Romeo Acop said, can also be considered as extrajudicial killings (EJKs) and may really be connected to the drug war.

“If we remember, the centerpiece of the past administration was the war on drugs, I think we agree on that and the reason why it was the centerpiece is because we know that many crimes are associated with illegal drugs […] But after the administration, there are still many remnants who do these wrong things,” he said.

“For example, in San Juan, Batangas, no buy-bust operation happened but the suspect was gunned down, that’s extrajudicial killing […] So I think if we will look at all aspects of the committee, these originated from a single issue, illegal drugs.  So that’s the reason why we thought of a quad committee, so that all issues will be correlated and stitched,” he added.

The four committees were tasked to investigate the intertwined issues after House Resolution (HR) No. 1880 was adopted on Tuesday.  According to Abante, the first hearing will be held on August 15.

The adoption of HR No. 1880 comes after Senior Deputy Speaker Aurelio Gonzales Jr. delivered a privilege speech during Monday’s session, highlighting the importance of a coordinated approach to pressing issues faced by the country today.