Chief Inspector Jovie Espinido submits his counter affidavit at the Department of Justice to disprove murder charges against him, Aug. 29, 2017. George Calvelo, ABS CBN News/File 

MANILA — A Philippine National Police (PNP) officer, known for operations that killed "narco-politicians", confirmed Wednesday the supposed "quota" and "reward system" implemented during the brutal anti-drug campaign of the previous administration.

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During the third hearing of the House quad committee, Lt. Col. Jovie Espenido was asked to detail his admission in his affidavit that there was supposed a quota and reward system during the former President Rodrigo Duterte's war on drugs.

"Dalawa yun, quota at reward. Ang quota, bawat araw ang pulis mag-tokhang, puntahan at p-surrenderin sa police station [ang users at pushers] para sila ma-rehab," Espenido said, adding that officers typically "tokhang" 50 to 100 households of alleged drug personalities in a day. 

Tokhang, on paper, only means to "knock and plead" but the PNP has become notorious for turning the operation into bloody encounters.

The reward system, on the other hand, supposedly involves monetary incentives, provided by local government units and allegedly sourced from profits of legitimate and illegal gambling such as POGOs.

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"Ang reward naman, very obvious, lahat ng operation, buy bust, search warrant implementation, may reward system yung local officials. Ang Ozamiz nagbigay si Mayor Parojinog ng P100,000 bawat accomplishment ng buyt-bust, so nakatanggap kami ng P600,000," Espenido said.

Pressed to detail how the quota and reward system were interpreted and carried out by the PNP, Espenido said there was "another side" to it.

"The other quota at saka reward system, alam ng mga pulis lahat yon, na 'pag patayin, may reward, kung mamatay yung nasa watch list, may reward na ibigay. Maski may kasalanan o wala, may ginawa na totoong binuybust o wala, yun ang pag-intindi ko sa dalawang klase ng reward," he said.

Asked by PBA party-list Rep. Migs Nograles if such system was applied by all PNP offices nationwide, Espenido replied: "Sa pagkakaalam ko yes, very known naman yon within the PNP."

The police officer admitted that the system was eventually abused.

"Masabi ko na marami ang nasiyahan dahil hinanap na yung source ng drugs. But then very sad to see na ang nangyari yung mga biktima lang ang napatay, yung pushers at users," Espenido said.

"Kawawa yung mga naging biktima lang para lang makatanggap ng reward. Nag-abuso yung nasa paligid ni Pres. Duterte because of greed and money," he added.

Espenido was police chief of Albuera when the town's then-mayor Rolando Espinosa, a drug suspect, was shot dead inside his jail cell in 2016 in a police operation to serve a search warrant. When Espenido was transferred to Ozamiz City, a series of drug operations led to the death of then Mayor Reynaldo "Aldong" Parojinog and 15 others who were also linked to illegal drugs.

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Former PNP officials have denied they implemented a “quota system."

Duterte and Sen. Bato dela Rosa, the former PNP chief, have been invited by the panel but both have refused to attend the probe.

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The House quad comm is investigating alleged extrajudicial killings during the Duterte administration, the crimes linked to illegal drugs, as well as in POGOs.

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