According to this legislator, the panel revealed a network of smuggling, illegal POGO activities, and anti-illegal drug operations interconnected during the presidency of Rodrigo Duterte.
Abante said: "In just three hearings, the investigation by the Quadripartite Committee has revealed a complex and extensive network of smuggling and dangerous drug trafficking, illegal POGO, and rampant illegal gambling activities such as 'jueteng' during President Duterte's term. These POGO and gambling activities are evil in themselves, but what is disturbing is that the funds from these illegal enterprises were channeled to reward law enforcement officers for eliminating targets, even if this led to arbitrary and widespread human rights violations."
On August 7th this year, Abante defended his panel's decision to join the Quadripartite Committee, stating they received information that POGO funds were used to reward police allegedly involved in extrajudicial killings during the drug war.
This information was confirmed by Police Colonel Jovie Espenido, who testified at the Quadripartite Committee hearing on August 28th, stating that money from lotteries, POGO, and intelligence funds were used to reward police executing anti-illegal drug operations.
Espenido mentioned the late Mayor David Navarro of Clarin, Misamis Occidental, who was an informant about the plan.
At the hearing, Espenido was also asked how POGO funds were distributed to the police. He said these funds were passed through Christopher "Bong" Go, a former special assistant to Duterte.
Go denied Espenido's allegations, claiming it was an attempt to politicize and tarnish his name.
Abante also reiterated his call for Duterte, Go, and Ronald "Bato" dela Rosa, the former director of the Philippine National Police (PNP) during the drug war and now a senator, to attend the Quadripartite Committee hearings so they could comment on these issues.
He said: "The Quadripartite Committee has given them every opportunity to respond to our resource persons' testimonies, and I believe they owe the Filipino people an explanation, to explain the execution of the drug war from their perspective."
In previous hearings, Espenido also accused dela Rosa of being the mastermind behind the orders to kill drug suspects. According to Espenido, dela Rosa ordered him to clear illegal drugs in Albuera, Leyte, which he took as an instruction to kill those involved in drug dealings.
Espenido said: "His only instruction was 'help me, Jovie, help President Duterte fight this war against illegal drugs, you should do well because I will appoint you as the chief of police of Albuera, so the drug problem in Albuera must be eliminated'."
When Joel Chua, Representative of Manila's 3rd District, asked what "eliminate illegal drugs" meant, Espenido said it meant "killing."
Espenido said: "Mr. Chairman, there is only one common word, we all know what it means. When they say 'eliminate,' it means killing, which is very very clear to us."
dela Rosa also denied Espenido's allegations, stating that his order to eliminate drugs was correct, but it did not mean to kill suspects.
