Former president Rodrigo Duterte (Keith Bacongco/ MANILA BULLETIN)

Former president Rodrigo Duterte has dubbed his sought attendance to the House quad-committee (quad-comm) on Thursday, Nov. 7 as "no longer necessary".

Not only that, but Duterte--through his counsel, lawyer Martin Delgra III--asailed the quad-comm and advised it on how to better conduct its inquiry on his controversial war on drugs.

"Regrettably, upon consultation with him, my client (Duterte) respectfully manifests that while he respects and recognizes the authority of the Honorable Committees to conduct inquiries, in aid of legislation, he cannot attend the public hearing as scheduled," Delgra said in a letter addressed to overall quad-comm chairman Surigao del Norte 2nd district Rep. Robert Ace Barbers.

The letter was released to House reporters on Wednesday afternoon, Nov. 6.

Delgra was specially referring to an invite from the quad-comm, dated Nov. 2, that sought Duterte’s attendance in the next hearing of the mega-panel on Thursday morning.

"It is my client's position that his presence before the Honorable Joint Committee in the public hearing set on November 7, 2024, at Quezon City, is no longer necessary," the lawyer and ex-Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) chairman added.

The Duterte camp sent Barbers a similar letter of regret last month, when the ex-president sought to be excused from attending an Oct. 22 hearing due to health reasons.

Not only is Delgra's second letter much longer than the first; it also doesn't hold back in sharing Duterte’s thoughts about the House probe on the bloody drug war. 

"While my client's attendance is supposedly for him to provide valuable insights and to shed light on issues under discussion particularly on extra-judicial kilings (EJKs), it is apparent that the inquiry is a mere political ploy aimed to indict him for crime or crimes he did not commit," the latest letter read.

2 quad-comm co-chairmen called out

"Co-Chairpersons Hon. Bienvenido Abante Jr. and Hon. Danilo Ramon S. Fernandez, among the Joint Committee members, have been very vocal of their position publicly that my client should be held liable for the crime of 'willful killing' under Section 6 of Republic Act No. 9851 or the Philippine Act on Crimes Against International Humanitarian Law, Genocide and Other Crimes Against Humanity, even alleging that the facts are clear," stated Delgra.

"If that is indeed their belief, then the proper course of action would be for them to file the proper criminal cases against my client before the Department of Justice (DOJ) and for the latter to resolve whether probable cause exist or not. After all, we have a fully functioning judicial system in our country," he added.

Delgra also said that Duterte was "gravely concerned on how the Honorable House Quad Committee tried to persuade, if not unduly pressure, resource persons to admit matters under oath they lack knowledge of or worst, unduly induce them to say something not true before the joint committee inquiry".

"My client, a former city prosecutor, even offered an opinion that it was a case of subornation, an act of inducing someone to commit perjury. Said statement if indeed true, casts doubt as to the Honorable House Quad Committee's integrity and impartiality," wrote Delgra.

Want to save time and money?

In the same letter, Delgra highlighted that Duterte had already appeared and "extensively discussed and shared his knowledge as to the alleged [EJK] during his administration" before the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee last Oct. 28.

The blue ribbon inquiry on the drug war--launched that same day--is a parallel inquiry to that of the quad-comm's.

Duterte went on to suggest a course of action to the Barbers-led joint panel, if it wants to save government resources.

READ THIS:

https://mb.com.ph/2024/11/5/quad-comm-hearing-on-nov-7-to-test-duterte

"My client respectfully suggests to save the government time and taxpayer's money if he were to attend the public hearing before the Quad Comm, that the Transcript of Stenographic Notes of the Senate Inquiry conducted on October 28, 2024, be made available in full to the Quad Comm for their appreciation and consideration," Delgra said.

"We understand the Senate Sub-Committee Chairman, Senator Aquilino 'Koko' Pimentel, has publicly mentioned that such transcript is made available for those who would duly request therefor," he noted.

According to critics, over 30,000 people were killed during Duterte's aggressive anti-narcotics campaign.