Taguba says he received death threats after implicating 'Pulong' Duterte in drug smuggling

MANILA, Philippines — Alleged Customs “fixer” Mark Taguba said that he and his family were harassed with death threats after implicating Rep. Paulo “Pulong” Duterte (Davao, 1st District) in the P6.4 billion drug smuggling case he was involved in back in 2017.

During the House Quad Committee's 12th hearing on Wednesday, November 27, Taguba recounted his experiences after conspiracy charges were filed against him and his testimony before the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee that investigated the case in 2017.

In the Senate probe, Taguba presented text messages exchanged with members of a “Davao Group,” mentioning the names “Pulong” and “Paolo,” alluding to the former Davao City vice mayor.  

Taguba also implicated Vice President Sara Duterte’s husband, Manases “Mans” Carpio before, noting that his name appeared as “Mance” in the text messages.

He said in his affidavit that, as a former member of the Davao group, he received help clearing shipments in exchange for money. 

However, Taguba quickly shifted his stance in the Senate probe in September 2017, apologizing to Duterte and Carpio and absolving them of involvement in the smuggled crystal meth.

Seven years later, during the Quad Comm’s investigation into the illegal drug trade, he said he was “harassed” after mentioning their names. 

Taguba said that at the time, he was only around 26 to 27 years old and unsure of how to deal with the situation, so he simply recounted his personal experience with the Davao Group, where Duterte and Carpio were mentioned.

“Bata pa nga po ako, hindi ko alam ‘yung pag-handle ng situation na ‘yun so binanggit ko siya (Duterte and Carpio). Lahat ng pang haharass ginawa nila sa akin,” he said while crying. 

(I was still young then, I didn’t know how to handle that situation, so I mentioned them. They did everything to harass me.)

Taguba shared that when he arranged a press conference through his legal counsel, Raymund Fortun, to apologize to Duterte and Carpio, the public believed his recantation.

“Hindi nila alam yung totoong nangyari na panghaharass namin. Kahit nanay ko balak nilang patayin,” he added. 

(They didn’t know the truth about the harassment we experienced. They even had