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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider 'Hindi pa ito tapos': Former quad-comm leaders Barbers, Fernandez favor revival of vaunted joint panel

'Hindi pa ito tapos': Former quad-comm leaders Barbers, Fernandez favor revival of vaunted joint panel

Published Jul 20, 2025 01:24 pm

At A Glance

  • Former leaders of the House quad-committee (quad-comm) favored the proposed revival of the special four-way panel in the 20th Congress.
Former Surigao del Norte 2nd district Rep. Robert Ace Barbers (left), former Santa Rosa lone district Rep. Dan Fernandez (PPAB)
Former Surigao del Norte 2nd district Rep. Robert Ace Barbers (left), former Santa Rosa lone district Rep. Dan Fernandez (PPAB)



Former leaders of the House quad-committee (quad-comm) favored the proposed revival of the special four-way panel in the 20th Congress.
In a joint statement Sunday, July 20, Robert Ace Barbers and Dan Fernandez--former congressmen from Surigao del Norte and Laguna, respectively--agreed with pronouncements from current lawmakers that the vaunted quad-comm has unfinished business.
The quad-comm in the 19th Congress was composed of the Committees on Dangerous Drugs, Public Order and Safety, Human Rights, and Public Accounts. It's overall chairman was Barbers.
It spent 15 marathon hearings delving into the alleged links between Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs), illegal drugs, supposed land grabbing by some Chinese nationals, and the extrajudicial killings (EJKs) associated with the Duterte administration’s bloody war on drugs.
According to Barbers, some public institutions are still reeling from the drug war’s unresolved casualties and the influx of transnational crime.
“There were witnesses who were threatened. There were patterns of abuse that pointed to state actors. There were billions of pesos in questionable transactions. Hindi pa ito tapos (The job isn't finished). quad-comm 2.0 must finish the job,” Barbers said.
The former overall chairman said the revival of the panel should be accompanied by protection for key witnesses and the institutionalization of inter-committee investigations. 
“We cannot isolate corruption from crime, or human rights from public funds. Everything is connected. The quad-comm gave us that holistic lens,” he said.
For Fernandez, a former quad-comm co-chairman, the central question is no longer whether abuses occurred, but whether the country has the political will to hold powerful actors accountable.
“Some truths were already out there. The problem was, we stopped just before they could be named in full. Now we must resume with urgency and courage,” Fernandez said.
He added that the committee’s findings pointed to an elaborate web of impunity sustained by gaps in oversight and a culture of fear within agencies. 
“We owe it to the Filipino people to show them that this Congress does not fear the truth,” he said.
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