Quad comm to release report on EJKs, POGO

The quad committee of the House of Representatives will be coming out with an "initial report" on its inquiries into illegal drugs and their links to Philippine offshore gaming operations (POGOs) and extrajudicial killings (EJKs) during the Duterte administration before Congress goes on a Christmas break on Dec 20, a senior administration lawmaker disclosed yesterday.

The panel will be also recommending four pieces of legislation when its report is released to the plenary.

“The reason why we will submit (the initial report) in the plenary is that this is a progress report, and because there are things that really need to be acted upon the soonest, like our proposed legislation that we have already filed. This is the output of the quad comm,” Surigao del Norte 2nd District Rep. Robert Ace Barbers, lead and presiding chairman of the quad comm said.

Barbers added that the House plenary, of which more than 300 members are part of, could suggest to President Marcos to include the measures in his priority legislative agenda, or better yet, to certify them as urgent so that Congress could expedite the approval process.