MANILA, Philippines — The Quad Committee — one of the most publicized legislative probes of the 19th Congress — is set to return as the House moves to revive it in the 20th Congress through a newly adopted resolution.
The House, in a plenary session on Tuesday, August 5, adopted Resolution 106 to revive the joint committee that had investigated the Duterte administration’s drug war, including cases of extrajudicial killings, the illegal drug trade, and illicit POGO activities.
Its adoption authorizes another joint inquiry to "address emerging and unresolved issues" from the 19th Congress' probe.
The resolution was filed by Rep. Bienvenido "Benny" Abante (Manila, 6th District) on Monday, August 4.
Abante, who previously served as one of the Quad Committee’s co-chairs, is expected to reprise his role after retaining the chairpersonship of the House Committee on Human Rights.
The other three committees to comprise the mega panel include:
- the Committee on Public Accounts chaired by Rep. Terry Ridon
- the Committee on Dangerous Drugs chaired by Rep. Jonathan Keith Flores
- the Committee on Public Order and Safety chaired by Rep. Rolando Valeriano
The resolution explained that reconvening the Quad Comm is intended to "show the Filipino people that justice does not expire with time."
Five bills were filed in the 19th Congress as a result of the mega panel's findings, two of which have been refiled in the 20th Congress.
One of these is the proposed Anti-Extrajudicial Killing Act, which seeks to define and criminalize extrajudicial killings.
The other refiled bill is the Civil Forfeiture Act, which aims to transfer illegally acquired land and property by foreign nationals to the government.
This comes after the legislative probe discovered foreign nationals acquiring land ownership in the country despite obtaining birth certificates through fraudulent means.
Abante earlier said the "Quad Comm 2.0" may also look into the missing sabungeros case since it is tied to gambling.
The previous Quad Comm recommended filing criminal charges against alleged perpetrators of the illegal drug trade and extrajudicial killings in the drug war campaign, including former president Rodrigo Duterte, Sen. Bato dela Rosa and Sen. Bong Go.