THE House Quad Comm has concluded that former president Rodrigo Roa Duterte’s controversial war on drugs allegedly served as a cover for a “grand criminal enterprise” involving high-ranking government officials, systemic corruption and international drug trafficking networks.
This conclusion was presented late Thursday night at the mega-panel’s final hearing of the year, where Antipolo 2nd District Rep. Romeo Acop, the committee’s senior vice chair, delivered a compelling summary of evidence and testimonies from 13 public hearings conducted since August.
The initial findings of the joint panel—composed of the House Committees on Dangerous Drugs, Public Order and Safety, Human Rights, and Public Accounts—indicate that Duterte and his inner circle allegedly enabled and profited from the drug trade they had publicly vowed to eliminate.
“Ladies and gentlemen, the Quad Comm has started to uncover a grand criminal enterprise, and, it would seem that at the center of it is former President Duterte,” Acop said. “Napakasakit po nito dahil pawang tayo ay nabudol.”
“Mahirap po ang trabaho natin dito sa Quad Comm. Walang gustong bumangga sa isang popular na dating Presidente. Pero kami po, tulad niya, ay halal ng taong-bayan,” Acop said.
According to Acop, the Duterte administration’s most trusted officials wielded both the “Purse and the Sword” of the Republic, but instead of serving the people, they weaponized these powers for personal and political gain.
“It is most unfortunate, however, that the Sword was used to slit, stab, and slash the very People it swore to protect—We the People—and the Purse was used not to benefit the Republic, but to line the pockets of the few. Nilunod nila ang bayan natin ng droga, at kumita dahil dito,” Acop said.
He cited the testimony of former police intelligence officer Col. Eduardo Acierto, who categorically named former President Duterte and Senators Christopher “Bong” Go and Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa as “integral personalities in protecting the illegal drugs network in the Philippines.”
“Worse, they served as key figures in ensuring that large volumes of illegal drugs slip right through our borders. Asan ngayon si Col. Acierto? Nakatago dahil gusto siyang patayin ni former President Duterte,” said Acop, a lawyer and former police general.
Acop opened his presentation by recounting two major drug smuggling cases from 2017 and 2018, which he called the “Tale of Two Shipments.” These involved P6.4 billion and P3.4 billion worth of shabu, respectively, smuggled through the Manila International Container Port.
Testimonies from key witnesses—businessman Mark Taguba and former Customs intelligence officer Jimmy Guban—detailed how Duterte’s son, Davao City Rep. Paolo “Pulong” Duterte; his son-in-law and husband of Vice President Sara Duterte, Manases “Mans” Carpio; and his former economic adviser Michael Yang allegedly orchestrated these shipments.
Taguba and Guban testified that shipments bypassed inspections through the tara system—a deeply entrenched bribery scheme within the Bureau of Customs where millions of pesos in grease money facilitated the unimpeded entry of drugs.
“Paano po ito nakakalusot? It’s a crack in our system—a crack in the Bureau of Customs,” said Acop. “The tara system—grease money—allowed shipments of dangerous drugs to pass through without X-rays or inspections.”
Yang, a close associate of the former President, emerged as a central figure in the Quad Comm’s investigation.
Acierto earlier presented detailed reports linking Yang to an organized drug trafficking network alongside his business partners Allan Lim (also known as Lin Weixiong) and Johnson Co.
Yang’s operations reportedly ranged from facilitating drug importation to overseeing distribution and money laundering.
Acierto’s matrix depicted an “end-to-end” drug enterprise involving precursor shipments, manufacturingand distribution across the Philippines.
Testimonies also revealed Yang’s connection to the 2004 Dumoy laboratory raid in Davao City, where over 100 kilos of high-grade shabu worth P300 million—the largest drug bust of its time—were uncovered.
“The reports relayed to us by Col. Acierto only support the participation of several high-ranking officials, including Senator Bato Dela Rosa, Director General Aaron Aquino, Bong Go, Wilkins Villanueva…Umabot po sa matataas na opisyal na ito ang report ni Col. Acierto. Inuulit ko, walang nangyari,” Acop emphasized.
Witnesses described a rewards system that incentivized law enforcement to kill alleged drug offenders, often with little evidence.
“Every kill was compensated, and the bigger the ‘catch,’ the higher the pay,” Acop noted.
Police Col. Jovie Espenido, once the “poster boy” of the drug war, confirmed that rewards could go as high as P100,000 for each kill.
Acop condemned this perverse reward system, which he said systematically targeted laboratories and chemists, effectively paving the way for imported drugs to dominate the Philippine market.
“It also led to countless extrajudicial killings—over 30,000 deaths, according to data,” he added.
One of the most explosive revelations was the Quad Comm’s assertion that Duterte himself may have been at the center of the drug enterprise.
In his affidavit submitted to the International Criminal Court, former police officer Arturo Lascañas described Duterte as the “Lord of All Drug Lords,” accusing him of using his anti-drug campaign as a tool to eliminate competition while protecting key players in the drug trade.
Lascañas, a self-confessed hitman and former member of the Davao Death Squad, testified that Duterte directly ordered killings of drug chemists and workers involved in the Dumoy laboratory.
His affidavit alleged that Duterte paid as much as P500,000 to eliminate these individuals, raising questions about whether these killings were about eradicating drugs—or eliminating competitors.
Acop underscored the recurring names tied to drug-related corruption: Yang, Lim, Johnson Co, and other associates repeatedly surfaced in different narratives.
From the Dumoy laboratory raid to the Empire 999 Realty warehouse in Pampanga, where P3.6 billion worth of shabu was seized in 2023, the same figures appeared at the center of these operations.
“Madami at paulit-ulit na ang lumilitaw na koneksyon ni Michael Yang sa business ng droga,” Acop said. “Pero sa gitna ng isang state policy called the ‘war on drugs,’ wala pa ring nakakagalaw laban sa kanya.”
Acop ended his presentation with a firm commitment to hold those responsible accountable.
He said the Quad Comm will continue its investigation in 2025, aiming to close systemic loopholes and ensure justice for the victims of the drug war.
“We will leave no stone unturned,” he promised.
