HOUSE Deputy Minority Leader and ACT Teachers Party-list Rep. France Castro suggested that former President Rodrigo Roa Duterte’s confidential funds may have financed a cash reward system that incentivized extrajudicial killings (EJKs) during his administration’s controversial bloody war on illegal drugs.
In the Oct. 11 House Quad Committee hearing, Castro pressed former Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office General Manager Royina Garma on the alleged flow of money used to fund the EJKs.
She pointed out that Duterte’s billions of pesos in confidential funds may have been funneled into a reward system that motivated operatives to carry out killings of drug suspects.
“You think iyong pera po ay isang source ng pinagkukuhanan ng rewards ay iyong confidential funds or intelligence funds?” Castro asked.
Garma, hesitant to confirm or speculate, responded, “Ayoko pong mag-speculate po, Your Honor.”
Earlier in the hearing, Garma read her sworn affidavit, directly implicating Duterte in orchestrating a nationwide campaign that led to the EJKs of drug suspects.
The affidavit not only exposed the alleged reward system that incentivized the killings but also detailed the alleged roles of Duterte and his close aide, Sen. Christopher “Bong” Go, in overseeing and coordinating the anti-drug operations.
