Fernandez: No budget for EJKs in Duterte drug war kill’
While past Congresses allocated funds to support former President Rodrigo Roa Duterte’s campaign against illegal drugs, there was never any line item budget that endorsed or incentivized extrajudicial killings (EJKs), according to a co-chair of the House Quad Comm.
Santa Rosa City Rep. Dan Fernandez, chair of the House Committee on Public Order and Safety, clarified this after the mega-panel uncovered testimonies from critical witnesses, confirming long-held suspicions of a covert reward system that incentivized deadly anti-drug operations beyond the law.
“No cash to kill! There is no line item budget for murder. Walang pong pondo para pumatay ng walang kalaban-labang mga tao. Congress provided the necessary resources to fight the drug menace, not to fund a cash reward system that encouraged the killing of individuals without due process,” Fernandez said.
He noted that the national budgets passed under the Duterte administration earmarked billions for the war on drugs, aimed at eliminating the illegal drug trade and reducing crime. Still, these were not intended for a violent and lawless approach.
“Let it be clear—Congress provided billions of pesos in resources to combat the scourge of illegal drugs, but at no point did the national budget authorize funds for EJKs,” Fernandez said.
Former Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) General Manager Royina Garma had submitted two affidavits exposing the alleged reward system that incentivized the killings during Duterte’s war on drugs patterned after the so-called “Davao Model.”
In her first affidavit, Garma detailed the roles of former President Duterte and his long-time aide, Sen. Christopher “Bong” Go, in overseeing and coordinating the reward-driven anti-drug campaign.
Garma, a retired police colonel, said the cash rewards for drug-related killings ranged from P20,000 to P1 million, depending on the target.
In her second affidavit, Garma confirmed the existence of the Davao Death Squad or DDS, a group long suspected of carrying out EJKs in Duterte’s hometown.
The contents of Garma’s affidavits were later corroborated by former National Police Commission Commissioner Edilberto Leonardo, whom Garma identified as the one tasked by Duterte to implement the “Davao Model,” a police reward system for killing drug suspects on a nationwide scale.
Before Garma exposed the details of the “Davao Model,” retiring police Lt. Col. Jovie Espenido, widely regarded as the previous administration’s “poster boy” for the war on drugs, was the first to reveal the existence of a reward system during his testimony before the Quad Comm.
Espenido disclosed that the scheme was funded by collections from jueteng and other illegal gambling operations, Philippine offshore gaming operators or POGOs, intelligence funds and proceeds from the PCSO’s controversial small-town lottery.
He said the money “flowed from the level of Bong Go.”
In one of the previous hearings of the Quad Comm, House Deputy Minority Leader and ACT Teachers Rep. France Castro suggested that former President Duterte’s confidential funds may have been used to finance a reward system that incentivized EJKs during his administration’s war on drugs.
Castro pointed out that Duterte’s confidential funds, which ballooned to billions of pesos between 2017 and 2022, could have been channeled into a system that motivated law enforcement operatives to carry out the killings of drug suspects.
Fernandez reiterated that while Congress supported the Duterte administration’s campaign to eradicate illegal drugs, there was no legislative or budgetary endorsement for EJKs.
“The funds Congress allocated were for the protection of Filipino citizens, not for the wholesale violation of their rights. No budget item authorized law enforcement to act as judge, jury, and executioner,” Fernandez said.
“The goal was to dismantle the drug trade, not to massacre suspected users or pushers, many of whom turned out to be innocent,” he pointed out.
If it is proven that government funds were used to finance the so-called “cash-for-kill” system in the drug war, Fernandez said it would represent not only a gross misuse of taxpayer money for EJKs but also a severe violation of budgetary laws and a profound moral failure.
“What we’re uncovering is a betrayal of the trust Congress placed in law enforcement,” he stressed. “Funds intended for legitimate anti-drug efforts were diverted into a system that rewarded killings without due process. This cannot go unpunished.”
Fernandez also emphasized that Congress must exercise greater oversight in the future to ensure that appropriations are used as intended.
“This is a wake-up call for stronger safeguards and stricter controls over how confidential and intelligence funds and operational budgets are utilized,” he said.
As the House Quad Comm continues its probe, Fernandez vowed that Congress would ensure that future budgets categorically reject any practices that lead to EJKs.
”There will be no room in future national budgets for this kind of abuse,” Fernandez declared. “We will ensure that any funds allocated for law enforcement are used solely for legal and transparent operations that respect human rights.”
Comments