House of Representatives (Ellson Quismorio/ MANILA BULLETIN)

The International Criminal Court's (ICC) taking into custody of former president Rodrigo Duterte proved the legitimacy of the House quad-committee (quad-comm) as a body that investigated the bloody war on drugs during the previous administration.

Thus, said Deputy Majority Leader La Union 1st district Rep. Paolo Ortega V, who added that Duterte’s arrest validated the quad-comm's efforts.

“Nakita naman natin nung nag-end ang nakaraang session, nasabi naman at nabigkas ang mga recommendations ng quad-comm. So siguro nabigyan ng validation. Hindi naman dapat i-validate pero nabigyan ng validation yung hearings ng quad-comm,” he said in press conference Wednesday, March 12.

(We saw that the quad-comm gave its recommendations when the previous session ended. So it was given validation. Not to say that it had to be validated, but the quad-comm hearings were given validation.)

Ortega recounted how the congressmen who participated quad-comm inquiry had been targeted by fake news peddlers online.

"Naging target kami ng fake news, pagpapalaganap ng fake news. Lahat po ng miyembro ng quad-comm ay pinagsisisira po talaga, lalo na nung mga nandun sa kabila. Alam po kasi nila na marami pong lalabas at maa-uncover itong quad-comm.

(We became the target of fake news, the spread of fake news. All members of the quad-comm were slandered, especially those coming from the other side. It's because they knew this quad-comm would uncover many things)."

But the ranking lawmaker proudly said that the quad-comm was "legit".

“And now, sabi ko nga po makikita po natin na the quad-comm is legit. At kahit anong fake news saka paninira ang ibato nila sa quad-comm, never kaming huminto (And now, like I said, we can see that the quad-comm is legit. We didn't stop our probe despite the fake news and attacks that were thrown at us)," he said.

"Naka-base lang naman po kami sa mga affidavit at sa mga statement po ng ating mga resource person. At uulit-ulitin ko, ngayon, mas nakikita ng taong bayan na the quad-comm is legit,” he said.

(We just based our findings on the affidavits and statements of the resource persons. And I'll repeat, now, our countrymen can truly see now that the quad-comm is legit.)

Aside from the controversial anti-illegal drug campaign of the Duterte administration, the quad-comm also looked into the issues of Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGO) and money laundering.

Duterte himself acted as a resource person of the special four-way panel during its Nov. 13, 2024 hearing.