Confronted publicly for the first time by two of his fiercest critics, former senators Leila de Lima and Antonio Trillanes IV, former president Rodrigo Duterte gestured as if to hit them in separate occasions on Wednesday at the 11th hearing of the House of Representatives’ quad committee. It was Trillanes who appeared to enrage Duterte...
Author: Christine O. Avendaño (Christine Avendaño)
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Still alive: ‘Victims’ of ‘Davao Mafia’ reunite in House hearing
A former customs intelligence officer told the House of Representatives’ quad committee on Thursday that he wept on seeing ex-colonel Eduardo Acierto because of “anger and joy” that they are both still alive after losing their men to the “Davao Mafia” that prospered during then President Rodrigo Duterte’s administration. Jimmy Guban, who is serving a...
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Duterte admits setting up death squad in Davao City
In two stunning admissions he made before a Senate blue ribbon subcommittee on Monday, former President Rodrigo Duterte said he kept a death squad that was set up to “fight crime” when he was mayor of Davao City. Duterte said three former Davao police chiefs had led the so-called “Duterte Death Squad (DDS)” and that...
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Garma says Duterte phoned her after her testimony on drug war’s ‘reward system’
Former president Rodrigo Duterte phoned retired police colonel Royina Garma after she testified two weeks ago at a hearing of the House of Representatives’ quad committee that killings were enforced in his “war on drugs” in exchange for rewards. Garma made the admission under questioning by Alliance of Concerned Teachers partylist Rep. France Castro during...
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More ‘smoking guns’ needed to beef up case vs Duterte et al. at ICC
The explosive testimony on Friday of one of Rodrigo Duterte’s trusted police aides is the “start of the reckoning” for the former president and his brutal war on drugs, but “more smoking guns” are needed to pin him down and others for the crimes against humanity case they are facing at the International Criminal Court...
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Barbers on Roque: ‘What goes around comes around’
“What goes around comes around.” This was what Surigao del Norte Rep. Robert “Ace” Barbers said in describing the path that lawyer and former presidential spokesperson Harry Roque, now again facing detention for defying a subpoena of the House of Representatives’ quad committee, appears to be treading. Barbers, who heads the quad committee looking into,...
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Fugitive Quiboloy now in government custody
Fugitive televangelist and ex-President Rodrigo Duterte’s spiritual adviser Pastor Apollo Quiboloy is now in government custody. Interior Secretary Benhur Abalos Jr. announced on Facebook around 6.30 p.m. on Sunday that the self-appointed “Son of God” had been caught: “Nahuli na si Apollo Quiboloy.” Abalos also posted a photo of Quiboloy wearing a black beanie, a...
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Quad committee’s upcoming hearings will be a ‘blockbuster’
More witnesses want to testify and some quarters have tried to stop others from appearing at the joint public inquiry into the possible links among illegal Philippine offshore gaming operators (Pogos), illegal drugs, and extrajudicial killings (EJKs) during then President Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs. These are among the challenges facing the powerful quad committee...
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Marcos urged to appoint ‘anti-Pogo czar’
Senate Minority Leader Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III wants President Marcos to name a “czar” to ensure that the government enforces his new policy to ban Philippine offshore gaming operators (Pogos) now deemed hotbeds of crime and other illegal activities. In an interview with CoverStory, Pimentel raised the need for the President to “designate” an anti-Pogo...
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‘Sigh of relief’ for high court ruling on grave threat posed by Red-tagging
The Marcos administration should declare that it has no Red-tagging policy following the Supreme Court ruling that deems such action as a threat to the life, liberty and security of those being labelled as communist insurgents. And to further ease the fears of activists and human rights defenders, the government should also abolish the controversial...