Collapse of 2022 alliance led to no-holds-barred inquiry vs Dutertes—Drilon
Without the recent breakup of the Marcos-Duterte political alliance, the discovery of shocking details about former President Rodrigo Duterte’s drug war and its links to the Philippine offshore gaming operators (Pogos) would never have been possible, former Senate President Franklin Drilon said.
The House of Representatives formed its quad-committee after the political split between President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. and Vice President Sara Duterte, who resigned from his Cabinet as education secretary on June 19.
“What I can say is (that) if not for the split between President Marcos and (Sara) Duterte, we would not see this kind of exposé we see today,” Drilon said in an exclusive interview, when asked about his thoughts on the ongoing inquiry by the quad-committee, which has so far seen witnesses alleging serious crimes against Mr. Duterte and his allies.
“What is happening today would not have happened had the unity (between Mr. Marcos and Duterte) not stayed together,” Drilon said.
In the quad-committee’s inquiry, witnesses have come forward claiming that the former president ordered the killing of three Chinese drug inmates at the Davao prison in 2016; that his son, son-in-law and his former Chinese economic adviser were allegedly behind the P11 billion worth of smuggled crystal meth (shabu) in 2017; and that his former spokesperson Harry Roque has alleged links to a Philippine offshore gaming operator (Pogo) in Pampanga.
All the allegations brought up in the quad-committee, which has conducted five hearings so far, have been denied by Mr. Duterte, his son and son-in-law, as well as Roque himself.
Since Aug. 12, the quad-committee made up of four House committees has been looking into links between the Philippine offshore gaming operators (Pogos), illegal drug trade, and extrajudicial killings under the Duterte administration.
Drilon supports the hearings of the quad-committee as they are needed for anomalies to be exposed. “It’s the only way people get informed and public officials are made to account for what they have done,” said Drilon, who monitors the news about the panel hearings and occasionally watches the proceedings on YouTube.
According to him, it’s the basic role of institutions like Congress to make people accountable for what they have done, including lawmakers, and that this process only shows that people will be held accountable for their past misdeeds in the end.
Pharmally scandal
But he also noted that the government’s ability to hold people accountable could be a “hit and miss situation,” citing as an example the “biggest scandal” he has seen in his 30 years of government service, the controversy involving Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corp.
In 2021, the Senate blue ribbon committee investigated Pharmally for cornering multibillion pesos in government contracts to supply equipment to health care workers during the pandemic. “Where is it now?” Drilon said about the outcome of the investigation.
The quad-committee’s investigation is now linking Michael Yang, a former adviser to President Rodrigo Duterte who was associated with Pharmally, to illegal Pogos, Drilon said.
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“Let the process continue but we have not reached the stage where people are made to account (in the Pharmally case),” Drilon said.
A draft committee report was released by then Sen. Richard Gordon, which recommended criminal charges against several public officials and private individuals, including Yang, and accused Duterte of betrayal of public trust. But this report was archived at the close of the 18th Congress in June 2022 because it did not have enough signatures from senators.
In August last year, the Ombudsman filed graft charges against former Budget Undersecretary Christopher Lloyd Lao and 12 other government officials. They were also held administratively liable for grave misconduct, gross neglect of duty, serious dishonesty, and conduct detrimental to the service’s best interests.
Only last May, the Office of the Ombudsman amended its August 2023 decision to include Lin Weixiong as one of the respondents for his alleged role in the “highly irregular scheme” in the Procurement Service of the Department of Budget and Management.
Aside from graft charges against Lin, who served as Pharmally’s financial manager, he was also found to have violated the anti-dummy law by holding a position at Pharmally despite being a Chinese citizen.
Quiboloy’s arrest
Drilon also stressed that the arrest of Duterte’s ally, controversial Kingdom of God leader Pastor Apollo Quiboloy, would not have been possible if Marcos and the Duterte political clans had not parted ways. Without the breakup, “I don’t think we can see an episode in what we saw in the case of Quiboloy,” said Drilon.
Drilon also surmised that the rift between the country’s two top leaders was “related to the quest for the presidency in 2028.”
“There is no question about it. All we are seeing now is because of the 2028 election,” he said. President Marcos’ term will end on June 30, 2028, but Sara Duterte is said to already be eyeing the presidency.
