Leaders of the Quad Comm in the 19th Congress on Sunday urged colleagues to reconstitute the mega-panel when the 20th Congress convenes later this month, warning that unresolved probes of drug-related killings, Chinese-linked syndicates, and government corruption must not be left to die quietly in the archives.
“We cannot just move on. What we uncovered in those hearings was not fiction, not rumor, but fragments of a frightening reality,” Manila Rep. Bienvenido Abante Jr. said.
“Quad Comm 2.0 now becomes a necessity. We firmly believe that justice does not expire and must continue in the 20th Congress. The people have a right to know who benefited from silence and who paid the price for speaking out,” he added.
The Quad Comm, composed of the committees on dangerous drugs, public order and safety, human rights, and public accounts, conducted several joint hearings in the 19th Congress that revealed troubling links between offshore gaming hubs, extrajudicial killings, and high-level corruption inside government.
Abante, in a statement, said their work was cut short by politics, threats to witnesses, and “what members now describe as an orchestrated effort to bury the truth.”
He said the push to reconstitute the panel in the 20th Congress is a test of political courage.
“If we truly serve, we should not be afraid of the truth. And memory means picking up where we left off, no matter how controversial the issues are, no matter how difficult they are,” he said.
“There were witnesses who were threatened. There were patterns of abuse that pointed to state actors. There were billions of pesos in questionable transactions. Hindi pa ito tapos. Quad Comm 2.0 must finish the job,” Surigao del Norte Rep. Robert Ace Barbers said.
The revival of the panel must be accompanied by protection for key witnesses and the institutionalization of inter-committee investigations, he raised.
“We cannot isolate corruption from crime, or human rights from public funds. Everything is connected. The Quad Comm gave us that holistic lens,” he said.
Sta. Rosa City Rep. Dan Fernandez said the central question is no longer whether abuses occurred, but whether the country has the political will to hold powerful actors accountable.
“Some truths were already out there. The problem was, we stopped just before they could be named in full. Now we must resume with urgency and courage,” he said.
La Union Rep. Paolo Ortega V and Lanao del Sur Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong initiated the call to reconstitute the Quad Comm.
“The work of truth-telling is never finished. But it must at least be continued,” Abante said.
