Former Davao Prison and Penal Farm warden, Supt. Gerardo Padilla, testified before a House quad-committee, stating that he received a congratulatory phone call from someone who sounded like former President Rodrigo Duterte following the deaths of three Chinese drug lords in 2016.
Padilla corroborated inmate Leopoldo Tan’s previous claims, saying the call occurred as he headed to the investigation section of the facility. According to Padilla, the voice resembling Duterte said, “Congrats, Supt. Padilla, job well done, pero grabe ‘yung ginawa, ginawang dinuguan.”
Tan, who had earlier testified that he and another inmate were offered freedom and money by authorities in exchange for carrying out the killings, implicated Duterte in the incident.
Former presidential spokesperson Harry Roque dismissed the claims as “hearsay,” while Salvador Panelo, Duterte’s former legal counsel, labeled the accusations part of a “demolition job” to tarnish the former president’s reputation. Panelo also suggested the inmates could be lying for personal gain.