Manila 6th district Rep. Bienvenido Abante Jr. (left), Edilberto Leonardo (Facebook)

It may not be that long of a wait for the other shoe to drop. 

Manila 6th district Rep. Bienvenido “Benny” Abante Jr. believes that it's only a matter of time before former National Police Commission (Napolcom) commissioner Edilberto Leonardo does a Royina Garma and tells the House quad-committee (quad-comm) all that he knows about the previous Duterte administration's bloody war on drugs. 

Abante, co-chairman of the quad-comm that has been investigating drug war-related extrajudicial killings under former president Rodrigo Duterte, (EJKs), said that Leonardo needs to execute an affidavit first before he could testify to the mega-panel. 

“Until such time that Col. Leonardo would submit to us an affidavit, doon namin siya isasalang (that's the time when we will hear his testimony),” Abante said during a press conference Wednesday, Oct. 16 at the House of Representatives. 

Abante says the special four-way panel is still waiting on the decision of Leonardo, who is detained in the House of Representatives after being cited for contempt in an earlier hearing. 

Word from the grapevine was that the scheduled quad-comm hearing Wednesday was postponed to next week, specifically to give Leonardo more time to mull his next move. 

Asked if he thinks Leonardo’s potential testimony could be as impactful as that of former Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) general manager Garma's Abante said: “Sa aking palagay, personally, meron [impact].” 

(In my opinion, personally, there will be an impact.) 

Another quad-comm co-chairman, Antipolo City 2nd district Rep. Romeo Acop, had earlier manifested in the quad-comm hearings that three Philippine National Police (PNP) personalties who were the closest to Duterte were Senator Ronald "Bato" dela Rosa, Garma, and Leonardo. 

In her testimony last Oct. 11, Garma accused Duterte of spearheading a nationwide, cash reward-driven system during his administration's war on drugs, similar to what allegedly took place in Davao City.   

Garma bared that she recommended to Duterte her fellow retired colonel Leonardo as the implementer of this alleged "Davao model".  
 

HAVE YOU READ THIS?

https://mb.com.ph/2024/10/11/cash-reward-driven-drug-war-was-duterte-s-idea

She further claimed that cash rewards for drug war kills ranged from P20,000 for street-level suspects to P1 million for "chemists, traders, manufacturers, financiers, and ninja cops". 

Garma did not mention Dela Rosa in her affidavit. 
 

Leonardo resigned as Napolcom commissioner only last week.

Critics of the Duterte drug war have told the quad-comm that anywhere from 20,000 to over 30,000 people were slain during this period.

Abante said the new date for the next quad-comm hearing is Oct. 22.