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 life sentence for conspiracy to import illegal drugs, blamed the deaths of his and Acierto’s men on the Davao Mafia and on its members’ “purpose to save the queen in order to become the next president.” He declined to explain his statement when pressed by lawmakers, saying he was concerned for his and his family’s welfare. 

“Let me fix my security and I will divulge the implementers of that,” Guban said.

It was a bittersweet reunion between Guban and Acierto who last saw each other six years ago, and who agreed during the 10^th hearing of the House quad committee that they were both “victims” of the Davao Mafia for doing their job in investigating drug personalities.

Antipolo Rep. Romeo Acop said the two men’s circumstances are a result of Acierto’s ” life-changing report”—a reference to the ex-colonel’s 2017 report on the purported involvement of former Duterte economic adviser Michael Yang and Allan Lim in the illegal drug trade. 

Testifying via Zoom, Acierto said Duterte, then Philippine National Police chief and now Sen. Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa, and police officials did not act on the report and instead charged him with smuggling illegal drugs and high-powered firearms. He said he had been in hiding for the last six years for fear of being killed.

Acierto also said he learned that Dela Rosa had gotten hold of his report and spoke with Lim and Yang but not with him. He said he made a second report, this time connecting Duterte to Lim and Yang; he submitted it to and discussed it with then PNP chief Oscar Abayalde, who, he said, also did not act on it.

According to Acierto, he first saw Yang’s connection to the illegal drug trade in April 2016 and was able to validate it in 2017. He said he had learned of Yang’s supposed involvement in the setting up of a shabu laboratory in Dumoy, Davao City, that was raided by police, and that Lim was arrested in a raid on a shabu lab in Cavite. 

He said the two men were cleared by the police and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) without proper investigation.

Asked by Manila Rep. Bienvenido Abante, a co-chair of the House panel, if he saw Duterte’s connection to Lim and Yang’s supposed illegal activities, Acierto said: “I am sure of it because of what happened to me and my men. It’s very obvious that he (Duterte) was protecting Yang and Lim.”

He said that because they were unable to dispute his intelligence report, they discredited him and even put up a P10-million bounty for his capture.

Acierto said it was Guban’s testimony against him that led to the filing of charges against him in connection with the discovery of 355 kilos of smuggled shabu in magnetic lifters in 2018.

Duterte was again a no-show at the continuing inquiry of the House quad committee into the extrajudicial killings during his administration’s “war on drugs.”

Tears

Surigao del Sur Rep. Johnny Pimentel asked Guban if he could greet Acierto, whom he had not seen for a long time.  

“Sir, let’s go to work,” Guban said, addressing Acierto, who replied: “Thank you, Jimmy, thank you. Take care.”

Guban then took out a handkerchief to wipe away his tears, causing a pause in the hearing.

Pimentel said it might be that Guban was crying because he “missed” Acierto.

On questioning later by Laguna Rep. Dan Fernandez, one of the co-chairs of the House quad committee, Guban denied that his tears had to do with his initial betrayal of Acierto, whom he tagged as behind the 2018 smuggling of 355 kilos of shabu. He took back that accusation when he testified before the House panel last August.

During the August hearing, Guban said he had tagged Acierto because his life was threatened when former environment undersecretary Benny Antiporda sent Paul Gutierrez, a reporter and National Press Club officer, to warn him not to name Duterte’s son and son-in-law, Davao City Rep. Paolo Duterte and Manasas Carpio, and Yang as being behind the drug shipment. Guban named Paolo Duterte, Carpio and Yang as being behind the drug shipment in that same hearing.

In Thursday’s hearing, Guban thanked God that he and Acierto were still alive. He said he had lost a customs intelligence agent and Acierto said he had lost two other men—Capt. Lito Perote and Master Sgt. Jerry Liwanag. 

Acierto said Perote was abducted from a Bacolod City hotel in 2019 and is missing to this day, while Liwanag was shot dead by unidentified men in 2021. Acierto also said Ishmael Fajardo, former PDEA deputy director for administration who was charged along with him in the shabu smuggling case, died of an ailment overseas.

Guban attributed their deaths to the Davao Mafia and “their purpose to save the queen in order to become the next president.”

“That is what they are doing. Lahat patayan (All killing),” he said.

Guban also said he and Acierto had done their best to help the country but that they had ended up suffering. This elicited a reminder from Surigao del Norte Rep. Robert Ace Barbers, lead chair of the House panel, for Guban to answer questions directly.

‘Truth’

Acierto said he was thankful to Guban for “telling the truth.”

“I am not angry with him because I know we were both victims. Maybe I have some resentment but it’s all gone now,” Acierto said.

When questioned by Zambales Rep. Jefferson Khonghun on his statement that the killings were meant “to save the queen in order to become the next president,” Guban initially said the killings were not only in the streets but also in the Bureau of Customs where, he claimed, three or five employees were shot dead.

“That is part of the Davao Mafia,” he said.

Pressed by Khonghun to explain, he said: “I cannot at this time give a categorical answer because of the security.” 

Guban said he was dealing with “hardcore killers” who were “implementers of the Davao Group,” and that he was able to develop an intelligence report on this even if he was locked up in the national penitentiary where, he said, he also got information on who was behind the grenade attack on a customs deputy commissioner.

Pressed further by Khonghun to expound on his statement, Guban said: “They want to clean their names. That family wants to clear their names so that all will be cleaned. But there is a God… Their plans are now coming out as well as their lies and their being narco politicians.”

Asked by Khonghun who the family he was referring to, he pleaded again that he will reveal all when he is prepared to do so as he said his family’s security was at stake.

Guban claimed that a member of a congressman’s staff had been following his son, that someone was contacting ex-Army officers not to be part of his security, and that a Davao-based businessman had warned him his son would be kidnapped.

When Khonghun asked him if he was referring to the Duterte family, Guban said: “Sorry, your honor, maybe next time.”

‘Threat’

The House quad committee members grilled Gutierrez and Antiporda on Guban’s allegation that they threatened him against naming Duterte’s family members and Yang in connection with the shabu shipment.

They questioned why Gutierrez, former head of the Presidential Task Force on Media Security, went to the extent of visiting Guban in the Senate detention facility in 2018, where the latter was detained after being cited in contempt by the Senate blue ribbon committee. 

Gutierrez said it was out of curiosity that he had asked then Senate blue ribbon chair Richard Gordon if he could see Guban in the detention facility. He repeated his denial of Guban’s allegation of threat. He said he was seeking an interview with Guban, particularly on what the latter thought of Acierto’s tagging him to the illegal drug trade. 

Guban said Gutierrez was lying. He wondered why Gutierrez would come to see him when they did not know each other and he was not seeking help.

Lanao del Sur Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong said Gutierrez was being “absurd” in visiting Guban to supposedly check his condition and for seeking an exclusive interview that lasted for only a few minutes.

Acop said that, like Pimentel, he saw “no reason” for Gutierrez to visit Guban “just to get a scoop.”

“There must be something special for you to visit Guban in his detention center,” Acop said.

Also denying Guban’s allegation, Antiporda insisted he did not know the former customs intelligence officer or Duterte, Carpio and Yang.

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