Manila Rep. Abante seeks creation of 'QuadComm 2.0'

Manila 6th District Representative Bienvenido “Benny” Abante Jr. on Monday filed a resolution seeking to re-establish the House Quad Committee (QuadComm) to continue tackling ‘unresolved’ issues such as the extrajudicial killings (EJKs) and offshore gaming hubs in the 20th Congress.

“There is still work that must be done—truths that remain hidden, perpetrators who remain unpunished, and families who still wait for answers,” Abante said in a privilege speech.

“Let us reconvene the QuadComm in the 20th Congress. Let us continue the investigation into the extrajudicial killings that scarred our nation. Let us show the Filipino people that justice does not expire with time, and that this Congress has the courage to finish what it has started,” he added.

House Resolution No. 106 seeks the committees on Human Rights, Public Order and Safety, Dangerous Drugs, and Public Accounts to conduct a joint inquiry to address the “emerging and unresolved” issue raised in the previous Quadcom in the 19th Congress.

Abante said the new committee named “Quad Comm 2.0” would expand the investigation on the problems of “criminality and criminal syndicates that have flourished across the years, often with the aid and protection of past and incumbent government officials.”

An example, Abante said, is the case of the missing sabungeros, or cockfighting enthusiasts, which he noted may be a case of EJKs.

“May mga alegasyon pa na ilang miyembro ng ating kapulisan ay sangkot sa mga insidenteng ito, at mga matataas na tao sa lipunan. Hindi ito bago sa atin—ito’y kahalintulad ng mga kaso ng EJK na ating naimbestigahan noong 19th Congress, kung saan may umaabuso sa kanilang kapangyarihan,” Abante said.

(There are also allegations that some members of the police are involved in the incident, along with some influential people. This isn’t new to us—it’s similar to the cases of extrajudicial killings we investigated during the 19th Congress, where some individuals abused their power.)

The lawmaker also inquired about the fate of the foreigners apprehended from Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGO) and the buildings and properties they have acquired.

Bukidnon 2nd District Representative Jonathan Keith Flores has been named head of the Committee on Dangerous Drugs, while Manila 2nd District Representative Rolando Valeriano was appointed chairperson of the Committee on Public Order and Safety.

The House has yet to elect a new head of the Committee on Public Accounts.

“May nagsasabi na pulitika lang ito (Some say its political). But this is not a partisan crusade, Mr. Speaker. This is a moral one. Because murder knows no color but one: red—the color of blood unjustly spilled,” Abante said.

The House Quadcomm inquiries resulted in the filing of the proposed Anti-Extrajudicial Killing Act and the Civil Forfeiture Act, which Abante said are important in curbing “impunity and seizing the ill-gotten wealth of those involved in state-sponsored abuses.” —LDF, GMA Integrated News