Zia Alonto Adiong says House committees to have at least 1 more hearing
Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong. Photo from Adiong’s Facebook page.
MANILA, Philippines — The quad committee and the tri-committee of the House of Representatives will have at least one more hearing before the 19th Congress adjourns its session, Lanao del Sur 1st District Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong said on Tuesday.
Adiong, during an interview with reporters covering the House, was asked about the details of the meeting between the Quad committee members held on Monday. According to the lawmaker, the meeting was held because both the quad committee and the tri-committee still had unfinished business that had been unattended due to the tight schedule.
Also, Adiong said that the quad and tri-committee have not yet released their final committee reports.
“‘Isn’t it that the quad and the tri-comm haven’t submitted their committee reports yet? That’s why there are still some loose ends that need to be tightened. So I guess that’s part of the usual legislative work that we do before the end of the regular session,” Adiong said.
“So we know that the 19th Congress will end on June 30, it will be sine die—that marks the beginning of another Congress, the 20th Congress. Prior to that, the overall chairman of the quad committee, which in this case is Congressman Ace Barbers, will submit the committee report,” he added.
The quad committee investigated the alleged illegal activities inside Philippine offshore gaming operator (Pogo) hubs, the illicit drug trade, the human rights violations during the past administration’s drug war, and allegations of a rewards system for officers who would kill drug users and pushers.
Tri-committee
The tri-committee, meanwhile, checked on the proliferation of misinformation and disinformation over social media. The investigation was borne out of a resolution filed by Surigao del Norte 2nd District Rep. Barbers, after he asked the House to check on misleading and incorrect social media posts against him and other quad committee chairpersons.
As of now, only a partial committee report was submitted by the quad committee, which was read by Barber on December 18, 2024. In that partial report, the quad committee recommended the filing of crimes against humanity complaints against former president Rodrigo Duterte and his key allies for their role in the alleged extrajudicial killings during the drug war.
The quad committee believes Duterte and the following individuals violated Republic Act No. 9851 or the Philippine Act on Crimes Against International Humanitarian Law, Genocide, and Other Crimes Against Humanity:
- former Philippine National Police (PNP) chief and Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa
- former special assistant to the president and Senator Christopher Lawrence Go
- former PNP chief Oscar Albayalde
- former PNP chief Debold Sinas
- former police colonel Royina Garma
- former National Police Commission commissioner Edilberto Leonardo
- Go’s aide Irmina “Muking” Espino
READ: Quad comm seeks crimes against humanity raps vs Duterte, Bato, Bong Go
Quad Committee Senior Vice Chairperson and Antipolo 2nd District Rep. Romeo Acop believes the hearings have uncovered tracks to a “grand criminal enterprise,” with Duterte seemingly at the center of it all.
Adiong said that the final report will be brought by Barbers to the plenary.
Also, the Lanao del Sur representative said he and other lawmakers are hoping that the 20th Congress will take up these recommendations.
“As I said, for now, they are still loose ends. I think the public deserves to know exactly what transpired—not only during the investigation by the quad, but also the other issues and concerns that have come up along the way. One thing we also admit is that we ran out of time because so many issues kept emerging as we went along with the deliberation,” Adiong said.
Piece of legislation
“So we are looking at possibly hoping, and requesting that the next Congress should also take on whatever the issues and concerns that have not (been) fully, satisfactorily addressed in terms of resulting to passing a piece of legislation, That’s what we want to see in the 20th Congress, but that would definitely depend on how the 20th Congress will handle the unresolved issues that we are seeing. he added.
The tri-committee on the other hand has grilled social media personalities for allegedly spreading misinformation and disinformation online.
Last March 21, at the second tri-committee hearing, quad committee co-chairperson and Manila 6th District Rep. Bienvenido Abante Jr. lashed out at vloggers who insinuated that lawmakers are “dimwits,” firing back by saying that these social media personalities are “stupid” because they write without thinking.
Abante grilled vlogger MJ Quiambao-Reyes due to her claim that there were no extrajudicial killings (EJKs) that happened during the Duterte administration’s drug war.
READ: Abante calls some vloggers ‘stupid’: They write without thinking
Aside from Reyes, two other bloggers — Krizette Laureta Chu and Mark Lopez — also apologized before lawmakers.
Chu, a journalist who maintains a political blog, was asked by Abante if she is willing to apologize or clarify her claims that many police officers were about to resign after the International Criminal Court (ICC) took custody of former president Rodrigo Duterte.
Abante’s question came after Philippine National Police – Criminal Investigation Detection Group chief Maj. Gen. Nicolas Torre III clarified that there was no mass resignation among police officers — prompting lawmakers to ask Chu where she got her information.
Chu promised to write about this clarification from the PNP.
Lopez said sorry to Deputy Speaker David Suarez and Surigao del Sur 2nd District Rep. Johnny Pimentel for claiming that the Philippines, like China, also water cannons foreign ships in the West Philippine Sea./mr
