House dismisses Sen Bato's claims on drug war inquiry

Members of the House of Representatives have dismissed Senator Ronald 'Bato' Dela Rosa's claim that a quadruple committee inquiry aims to link the Duterte administration's war on drugs with illegal activities related to Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs) as unnecessary and unbecoming of a public servant.

House Deputy Speaker Rep. David Suarez called Dela Rosa's remarks 'unnecessary, unparliamentary, and baseless', emphasizing that the investigation is about uncovering truth behind drug syndicates and POGOs, not politics.

The quadruple committee, composed of four congressional panels, will probe possible links between POGOs and illegal drugs, extrajudicial killings involving drugs, and other crimes on August 15 following an organizational meeting on August 12.

Deputy Majority Leader Rep. Jude Acidre criticized Dela Rosa for launching personal attacks against the House leadership instead of cooperating with the investigation.

Dela Rosa said he would not attend the joint inquiry due to inter-parliamentary courtesy between the Senate and the House, while Barbers clarified that both Duterte and Dela Rosa were invited as resource persons rather than targets for prosecution.