House Speaker Martin Romualdez (left), Surigao del Norte 2nd district Rep. Robert Ace Barbers (PPAB)

House Speaker Martin Romualdez gave high praise to the quad-committee (quad-comm), which he described as a "truth commission".

Romualdez did so on Monday, Dec. 16, during the Office of the Speaker's Christmas party for House reporters. 

Gracing the event along with Romualdez was Surigao del Norte 2nd district Rep. Robert Ace Barbers, the overall chairman of the quad-comm.

"Naging truth commission na yung quad[-comm] eh, naging truth commission na ngayon yung mga efforts natin dito sa Congress," the leader of the 300-plus strong legislative chamber said.

(The quad-comm has turned into a truth commission, our efforts here in Congress have turned into a truth commission.)

"Because this is the place, itong venue natin, yung forum (this is the venue, this is the forum), where we can come up and ferret out the truth. So that we can enact proper legislation, remedial legislation," the Leyte 1st district representative said.

Romualdez further said: "Nagawa na ng quad. The blue ribbon is doing the same thing... legislations to fix the gaps, at kung pagkakakulangan ng ating mga legislasyon at kakulangan sa ating gobyerno."

(The quad has done it. The blue ribbon is doing the same thing... legislations to fix the gaps, covering the shortcomings of our legislation and of our government.)

Since August, the quad-comm has held 13 marathon hearings on the alleged interconnected issues of Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGO), illegal drugs, money-laundering, and the extrajudicial killings (EJKs) during the previous Duterte administration's drug war. 

In recent weeks, the quad-comm zeroed in on the alleged on the alleged implication of former resident Rodrigo Duterte in extrajudicial killings (EJKs) during his bloody drug war.

Perhaps the gravest allegation was the implementation of a reward system during his tenure that encouraged the killing of drug suspects by law enforcers in exchange for cold cash.

Also during the reporters' party, Barbers spoke of the challenges that the mega-panel has faced. These included the alleged paid online trolls that demonize the quad-comm and it's members. 

Romualdez acknowledged this. "Chairman Ace mentioned we have detractors. That is common in any democracy."

According to the Speaker, the House makes it a point to listen even to its critics. However, finding out the truth is the solons' main concern. 

"Maski may magbabatikos, pinapakinggan din naman natin sila. Anyway we can improve our processes our protocols, kung paano natin ginagawa yung ating mga hearings," he said.

(We listen even to our critics. Anyway we can improve our processes our protocols, or the conduct of our hearings.)

"Pero yung iba naman dyan, sabagay, wala talagang halaga kasi nakikita naman natin, negative talaga, walang positive na effect so to speak. At tsaka yung gusto lang natin sabihin sa mga bumabatikos sa atin, nandito lang tayo para sa katotohanan, we just want the truth," Romualdez said.

(But other critics hold no value for us because as we can see, they are purely negative with no positive effect so to speak. And all that we want to tell our detractors is, we are solely here for the truth, we just want the truth.)