Quad comm resets hearing on EJK, drug war

A hearing by the quad committee of the House of Representatives scheduled for today and to which former president Rodrigo Duterte had unofficially confirmed his attendance has been canceled.

-  JOSE RODEL CLAPANO

Quad comm overall chairman Surigao del Norte Rep. Robert Ace Barbers said the panel decided to reset the hearing to Nov. 21 to give members more time to screen witnesses.

He stressed that the quad comm did not receive any “official confirmation” of the former president’s supposed attendance at today’s canceled hearing on extrajudicial killings and the deadly drug war during the previous administration.

“As early as last week, the quad comm has already been contemplating to move the hearing on Wednesday because we want all the witnesses to issue their sworn affidavit. Many want to testify. We need to study whom we will present in EJK, in drugs and in POGO. Because of several witnesses, we decided to interview them first and determine who are more credible among them,” Barbers said at a press conference yesterday.

“Again, it should be confirmed that the witnesses to be presented are those with credibility. Previously, we reached a point where we have to subject a witness who wanted to testify to a psychological test and polygraph test to determine if she’s not lying. We cancelled Wednesday’s hearing to give us more time to interview, to scrutinize the witnesses,” he added.

Barbers said that at 6 p.m. on Monday, the quad comm, through its secretariat, had already notified its witnesses or resource persons of the resetting of the hearing to Nov. 21.

“Quad comm chairs had informed the committee secretariat that our hearing on Wednesday (Nov. 13) will not push through and the witnesses were informed via email and Viber notices sent yesterday (Monday),” Barbers said.

Barbers said that as to the witnesses, especially former president Duterte, “nobody confirmed their attendance.”

“All those invited for the Nov. 13 hearing, which we cancelled, will be invited again to attend our hearing on Nov. 21,” he said.

Barbers said quad comm leaders finalized their decision to cancel the Nov. 13 hearing last Sunday.