Quad panel dismisses VP's harassment claim

LEADERS of the House of Representatives quad committee on Monday dismissed Vice President Sara Duterte's claim of political harassment.

During the committee's hearing last Friday, the vice president's husband, Manases Carpio, and brother, Davao City 1st District Rep. Paolo Duterte, were linked to a shabu shipment in 2018.

Duterte said Saturday that implicating her husband and brother in the shabu shipment «is political harassment.»

The Quad Committee—composed of the Committees on Dangerous Drugs, Public Accounts, Public Order and Safety, and Human Rights—conducted its first joint public hearing at the Villa de Bacolor Convention Center, Bacolor, Pampanga. Photo from House of Representatives of the Philippines

In response, Abang Lingkod Rep. Joseph Stephen Paduano, the chairman of the House Committee on Public Accounts, said: «We are committed to finding the truth based on evidence, not politics.»

The Public Accounts Committee is part of the quad committee, along with the Committee on Public Order and Safety, Committee on Dangerous Drugs, and Committee on Human Rights, investigating the multibillion worth of shabu that was smuggled into the country through the Manila International Container Port (MICP).

Paduano said «the pursuit of truth and justice is our only agenda, and we will not waver in that commitment.»

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Santa Rosa City Rep. Dan Fernandez, who heads the Public Order Committee, said the inquiry was «not about targeting anyone, but about following the evidence.»

Surigao del Norte 2nd District Rep. Robert Ace Barbers, the designated lead chairman of the quad committee, said that the panel's job was to follow where the evidence leads.

«Political harassment has no place here; we are just doing our job,» Barbers said.

«The truth is paramount. We are not here to play politics but to uphold the principles of justice and accountability,» he said.

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Manila 6th District Rep. Bienvenido Abante Jr., the chairman of the human rights panel, said, «We will continue our work without fear or favor.»

House leaders also defended the quad committee inquiry.

House Senior Deputy Speaker and Pampanga 3rd District Rep. Aurelio Gonzales Jr. said «the truth of