Surigao del Norte Rep. Robert Ace Barbers, lead chairman of the House Quad Committee, on Tuesday said that former President Rodrigo Duterte’s controversial war on drugs was a “catastrophic failure” that entrenched corruption within the Philippine National Police, promoted impunity, and led to widespread human rights abuses.
Barbers backed Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla’s claim of a “grand conspiracy” within the police force to hide criminal activities.
Barbers, chairman of the House Committee on Dangerous Drugs, said the indictment of 30 police officers—including two generals—over a fabricated drug haul in 2022 is “indisputable proof” of the alleged systemic abuse fostered by Duterte’s policies.
Remulla previously described the fabricated drug haul, falsely presented as a major anti-drug success, as part of a broader conspiracy to conceal the PNP’s criminal activities.
He said the DILG would investigate drug-related operations from 2016 to 2022, focusing on the reward system exposed during the Quad Comm hearings.
Testimonies from witnesses, including retired police colonel and former Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office General Manager Royina Garma, revealed that Duterte’s administration offered cash rewards for drug suspects killed, arrests made, and drugs seized.
Barbers echoed Remulla’s assertion that the reward system fostered widespread malpractice within the PNP.
He said the Duterte administration’s “reckless policies created the perfect storm for corruption.
The DOJ vowed to be relentless in prosecuting the 30 erring police officers involved in the planting of evidence in one of the country’s massive seizures amounting to P6.7-billion worth of shabu.
Meanwhile, former Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency chief Wilkins Villanueva on Monday surrendered to the House of Representatives to serve the contempt and detention order issued against him in December, a House leader said Tuesday
Villanueva was cited in contempt in one of the Quad Comm’s hearings in December for repeatedly denying involvement in the warrantless arrest of Jed Pilapil Sy, wife of drug suspect Allan Sy, in January 2005.
Villanueva has been ordered detained until the Quad Comm concludes its inquiry on the Duterte administration’s drug war.
Editor’s Note: This is an updated article. Originally posted with the headline “Barbers backs DILG probe on corrupt cops, calls drug war a ‘catastrophic failure’.”