The vaunted House quad-committee (quad-comm) may have one final surprise before it concludes its series of hearings on Monday, June 9.

"Yung ang last hearing namin sa quad-comm at we will terminate the hearings. At kami ay magsa-submit ng aming final committee report no (That’s our last hearing in the quad-comm and we will terminate the hearings. And we will submit our final committee report)," Surigao del Norte 2nd district Rep. Robert Ace Barbers told reporters on Wednesday, June 4.

Barbers is the overall chairman of the quad-comm, which is composed of the Committees on Dangerous Drugs, on Public Order and Safety, on Human Rights, and on Public Accounts. 

Asked if the June 9 hearing will feature any resource persons or witnesses, the outgoing three-term congressman said: "As we always do in the quad-comm, surprise no (It’s a surprise)."

Since August 2024, the quad-comm has been looking into the alleged interconnected issues of Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGO), extrajudicial killings (EJKs), money-laundering, illegal drugs, and former president Rodrigo Duterte's bloody war on drugs. 

The highest profile witness or resource person who attended the series of marathon hearings held by the joint panel was ex-president Duterte himself.

Endlessly monetized enterprising vloggers, the quad-comm has given it's share of viral moments, and at its height was akin to must-see television.

Barbers says the quad-comm's final committee report will include the joint panel's follow-up on actions made by the executive branch--if any--on its earlier recommendations in its partial committee report. 

"If you recall, last year, in November, nag-file kami ng (we filed a) partial committee report. And we wanted to get the progress of that recommendations that we made," he said.

"Kailangan malaman namin kung ano ba yung aksyon na ginawa ng executive department doon sa aming recommendations (We need to know what actions the executive department has taken in response to our recommendations)."

According to Barbers, the quad-comm has carried out "sufficient hearings" on the issues of drugs, EJKs, public accountability, and peace and order.

Presented and adopted by plenary in December 2024, the partial committee report sought the filing of "appropriate charges" against ex-president Duterte and his allies Senators Ronald "Bato" dela Rosa and Christopher "Bong" Go in relation to the drug war.

"We want to know the extent of the actions taken doon sa partial committee report namin. At kapag hindi, iyon ay isa-summary namin sa aming final committee report (And if not, we will summarize it in our final committee report)," Barbers said.

Duterte is detained and being tried for crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court (ICC) at The Hague in the Netherlands. Meanwhile Dela Rosa and Go were recently reelected in the 2025 mid-term polls.