Former presidential chief legal counsel Salvador Panelo has dismissed retired Police Colonel Royina Garma’s allegations of a payment and rewards system for killing drug suspects during the Duterte administration as “pure imagination or fertile speculation.” Panelo made the statement after Garma testified before the House Quad Committee, claiming that former President Rodrigo Duterte had asked her to find an officer who could implement the “Davao model” of the war on drugs on a national scale, which allegedly involved rewards of up to P1 million for killing drug suspects.
Panelo strongly refuted the claim, noting that the alleged meeting between Garma and Duterte occurred in May 2016, a month before Duterte assumed office in July 2016. “What is evident is that Garma may have succumbed to threat or intimidation under pain of incarceration if she did not make the allegations contained in her affidavit,” Panelo said.
He also questioned the credibility of Garma’s knowledge about the supposed “Davao model,” emphasizing that if Garma had declined to be part of the alleged replication of the Davao method, she would not have had any personal knowledge of the plan or its execution. “Her knowledge is all hearsay,” Panelo asserted.
Panelo defended Duterte’s actions during his presidency, reiterating that when the former president declared a war on drugs, he made a commitment to pursue those involved in illegal drugs, but with the intention of prosecuting and incarcerating them. According to Panelo, Duterte’s efforts led to “almost total destruction” of drug networks in the country, which in turn brought “security and peace of mind to the citizenry.”
The War on Drugs: Data and Criticism
The war on drugs was one of Duterte’s signature initiatives, launched shortly after he took office in mid-2016. It was marked by a heavy-handed crackdown on illegal drugs, often described as brutal and controversial. According to official government figures, the campaign resulted in the deaths of around 6,000 individuals, mostly from poor communities, during police operations. However, human rights groups and independent observers estimate the real death toll could be significantly higher, possibly exceeding 20,000, including extrajudicial killings by so-called “death squads.”
The campaign was widely criticized by local and international human rights organizations, which accused the administration of allowing impunity, encouraging police to use excessive force, and failing to investigate the deaths adequately. Despite this, Duterte’s administration maintained that the campaign was necessary to combat the rampant drug problem and insisted that the police only acted in self-defense when suspects resisted arrest.
Political Reactions
Panelo also suggested that political enemies of Duterte were behind the accusations, attempting to use “coercion and money” to compel individuals to testify falsely against the former president. “The political enemies and detractors of FPRRD [Former President Rodrigo Roa Duterte] will not stop at throwing the kitchen sink at him,” he said, accusing them of trying to undermine the former president’s legacy through fabricated claims.
Duterte, for his part, has been invited multiple times to appear before the House probe into the drug war but has consistently declined. In a recent press conference in Davao City, Duterte expressed willingness to attend if invited on the condition that the committee members would ask “educated questions” rather than irrelevant or invasive ones. According to Panelo, as of now, Duterte has not received a formal invitation from the committee.
The investigation into the drug war, launched under the House Quad Committee, aims to examine allegations of human rights abuses and illegal activities associated with Duterte’s anti-drug campaign. However, Duterte remains popular among many Filipinos for his tough stance on crime, and the war on drugs continues to be a polarizing issue in the country.
While the drug war’s effectiveness remains a topic of debate, the program undoubtedly left a lasting impact on the Philippines, shaping public discourse around crime, justice, and governance during and after Duterte’s presidency.
