‘Protectors tag deterred probe on drug war during Duterte govt’
THE two Congresses under the Duterte administration may have decided not to probe the excesses of former President Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs for fear of being labeled “protectors,” a neophyte administration lawmaker said yesterday.
Zambales Rep. Jefferson Khonghun made the statement in reaction to Sen. Ronald dela Rosa’s observation that some of the congressmen who defended and hailed the war on drugs have suddenly become its staunch critics under the Marcos administration.
“Alam naman natin napakahirap magsalita, no? Against sa policy nung nakaraang administrasyon. Pag nagasalita ka against war on drugs, sasabihin protektor ka so naiintindihan natin ang mga miyembro ng previous Congresses kung bakit hindi sila makapagsalita (We all know it was really difficult to speak up then, right? It was against the policies of the previous administration. When you speak against the war on drugs, you’ll be labeled a protector, so we understand members of the previous Congress, why they failed to speak up),” Khonghun told a joint press conference with other House members.
Dela Rosa earlier called lawmakers from the House as “opportunistic” and “unprincipled,” an allegation which triggered a response from Antipolo City Rep. Romeo Acop – a former police general who is a vice chair of the four House committees investigating Duterte’s bloody war on drugs – who called Dela Rosa a “real opportunist” and a Duterte “lapdog.”
The four House committees, collectively known as the quad comm, is investigating the alleged links between Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs), the illegal drugs trade and the extrajudicial killings tied to the Duterte administration’s controversial anti-drug campaign.
The quad comm, in a hearing in Pampanga last Friday, heard testimony from former Customs intelligence officer Jimmy Guban, who implicated the former president’s son, Davao City Rep. Paolo Duterte, his son-in-law Manases “Mans” Carpio – the husband of Vice President Sara Duterte – and his former economic adviser Michael Yang in the smuggling of P11 billion worth of shabu hidden in magnetic lifters at the Manila International Container Port in 2018.
Khonghun said that while he and his
