The House of Representatives has established the "Quad-Committee" (quad-comm). It is composed of key personnel from the Dangerous Drugs Committee, Human Rights Committee, Public Accounts Committee, and Public Order and Safety Committee.
It can be said that these four committees have "both overlaps and commonalities" in the issues discussed.
The purpose of establishing the Quad-Committee is mainly to determine the connections between Philippine offshore gaming operators (POGO), Chinese groups, illegal drug trade, and extrajudicial killings in the country, and former President Duterte has been invited multiple times.
The lawmakers also clarified that this move is not to investigate the controversies during the administration of former President Rodrigo Duterte.
Two months ago, the House Quad-Committee issued an invitation to former President Rodrigo Duterte, hoping to "hear his statement" because previously, two prisoners, Fernando Magdadaro and Leopoldo Tan Jr., accused him of being involved in the 2016 case of killing three Chinese drug lords in Davao prison.
According to the testimonies of these two individuals, as long as the three suspected Chinese drug lords were killed, they would receive monetary rewards. However, the promised rewards were not fully paid, and instead, they ended up spending several more years in prison.
Since then, Duterte has been drawn into the vortex of drug issues, and a series of problems have followed.
Seeing Duterte remain inactive, the Quad-Committee started with small fry, issuing a subpoena to Alberto Rodulfo "AR" Dela Serna, a former administrative assistant to former President's spokesperson Harry Roque.
Dela Serna was summoned because former President's spokesperson Harry Roque appeared in documents seized from an illegal POGO site.
Meanwhile, Alice Guo, the former mayor of Banban who fled the Philippines, her sister Shiela Guo, and her business partner Cassandra Li Ong were arrested by the Philippine police.
On September 5, the testimony of Katherine Cassandra Li Ong mentioned that Wu Duanren, an executive of Whirlwind Corporation, was formerly a Chinese police officer, and the two had close contacts in the Philippines.
As the investigation deepens, many senators claim to have been threatened, with some stating that they will steadfastly uphold justice and expose and hold accountable those government officials who have betrayed the nation by colluding with Philippine offshore gaming operators (POGO). "They fill their pockets with wealth in exchange for the nation's honor."
It is implied that some officials are linked to illegal POGO and the drug war behind the scenes, selling out the nation for personal gain, and these individuals are obstructing the investigation.
At the same time, the Quad-Committee uses Alice Guo as a breakthrough to investigate the illegal POGO issue, and also uses witnesses from the drug war as a breakthrough to investigate the controversies during Duterte's term.
Soon, Alice Guo was accused of contempt of Congress for refusing to answer lawmakers' questions truthfully, insisting she was unaware of some of her business partners' criminal backgrounds, and was detained in a detention center for failing to post bail on corruption charges at the Tanlu Court.
Duterte's son, Davao City Councilor Paolo "Pulong" Duterte, publicly expressed his desire to attend the Quad-Committee hearing on drug war-related deaths and illegal drug transactions, and mentioned in a letter to the Quad-Committee that he hopes to question the relevant resource persons, using a countermeasure to advance by retreating.
After all, no one is completely clean. No one can withstand "inquiry."
Following this, the Quad-Committee again targeted people close to Duterte, arresting Michael Yang's brother, Yang Jianxin, at the airport.
At the hearing, the Quad-Committee suspected Michael Yang's involvement in a 3.6 billion drug case during Duterte's term, and his business group in Davao was also using legitimate business to cover up criminal activities. Local media revealed that the Duterte family's influence in the Davao region supported this. After all, Davao is Duterte's stronghold.
Michael Yang, due to recommending a procurement company with questionable qualifications during the pandemic, was considered to be using his official power for corruption. Although not convicted, he has been afraid to appear in public for a long time and has always been a target of the Philippine government.
Moreover, Yang Jianxin was revealed to have financial transactions with Alice Guo.
Thus, with the arrest of Yang Jianxin, not only was the Yang family significantly impacted, but Duterte also faced a series of indirect attacks.
And the focus of the Quad-Committee quickly returned to the drug cases during Duterte's term.
Looking at Duterte, he remains calm. No matter how the Quad-Committee invites him to attend the hearing, he just does not respond or take a stance.
ABANG LINGKOD party representative at the hearing asked former National Police Commission Commissioner and former head of the Davao Regional Criminal Investigation Unit, Leonardo, whether he had disclosed the plan to kill three Chinese drug dealers to former CIDG officials and senior police superintendents at Davao prison.
While the two witnesses, former CIDG officials and senior police superintendents at Davao prison, both confirmed this, Leonardo firmly denied it.
At the end of September, during a 14-hour hearing, two deputy speakers of the House presented a detailed matrix of the internal operations of a criminal group, revealing the ins and outs of the Yang crime group.
It is reported that this crime group was led by Duterte's former advisor Michael Yang and his partner Allan Lim.
Michael Yang and Allan Lim used legitimate companies to cover their criminal activities, with Davao's DCLA Plaza being pointed out as a drug distribution center. They used a complex corporate structure to conceal their real illegal activities, thereby expanding their penetration into the POGO industry.
In this process, they were involved in multiple criminal activities including drug trafficking, kidnapping, prostitution, murder, document forgery, and online fraud.
Local media hinted that since Duterte took office, the POGO industry began to flourish, and the Yang brothers rooted in Davao as their stronghold, inevitably supported by the Duterte family. Earlier, a Davao customs official testified that when inspecting the maritime goods of the Yang group, they were asked by Duterte family members to let them pass.
More importantly, this criminal network is intricately linked with Brickhartz Technology Company, Xionwei Technology Company, Baofu Park, and Lucky South 99 Company.
They used their relatives to hide the true ownership of the companies, concealing their key roles in numerous businesses. The methods used in Alice Guo's case were exactly the same.
Thus, the first season of the "Netting Operation" by the Quad-Committee finally reached its climax, with various threads gradually becoming clear.
Looking at former spokesperson Roque, properties under his name are suspected of being rented to red-notice individuals Sun Liming, his refusal to attend the Quad-Committee hearing, his name appearing in documents from illegal sites, and his non-response to the letter inviting him to the hearing, even implicating his wife who was arrested a few days ago.
The result suddenly burst out that he was no longer in the Philippines. What is this if not having a guilty conscience?
However, Duterte remains as stable as Mount Tai. He agreed to the Quad-Committee's invitation two days ago, stating he was ready to attend and hoped "they could raise some insightful questions."
We do not know the truth of the matter, but regarding the killing of three Chinese drug lords, Duterte's attitude: This is a political attack.
However, recent reports have indeed had people come forward stating that during Duterte's drug war, killing a person had a corresponding "bounty," and this "bounty" was indeed obtained from the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office PCSO.
PCSO's General Manager Royina Garma also accused former President Rodrigo Duterte of being the mastermind behind the national drug war. And the previously firm Leonardo was the key person responsible for devising the strategy and managing the reward system known as the "Davao Model."
On October 13, the Philippine Department of Justice even stated that it would reinvestigate multiple murder cases in the drug war and POGO.
Considering Sara's sudden resignation, Duterte's "spiritual leader" KOJC's arrest and charges of sexual abuse, this series of events are essentially about competing for dominance in the Philippines, undermining Duterte's influence.
And the "bounty hunter" event in the drug war was just an excuse for the small horse regime to investigate Duterte.
Currently, it seems that the small horse's policy is effective, and the Duterte family's influence has indeed been weakened. All this is to lay the foundation for the election eight months later.
But what will the final outcome be? Can the small horse suppress Duterte, or will he bounce back? We wait and see!
