Incarcerated former Customs intel agent Jimmy Guban, linked to the 2018 shabu importation fiasco, appears as a witness during a joint public hearing on illegal drugs, POGOs, illegal purchases of land, and the war on drugs at the Villa De Bacolor Convention Center in Bacolor, Pampanga on August 16, 2024. Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News

MANILA (CORRECTED) — Wearing a bullet-proof vest and helmet, former Customs Intelligence officer Jimmy Guban appeared before Friday’s joint hearing of four House committees looking into crimes linked to POGOs and dangerous drugs.

Guban previously appeared in a 2018 hearing of the Senate Blue Ribbon committee, linking former Police Col. Eduardo Acierto to the shipment of magnetic lifters containing P6 billion worth of shabu in the Manila port in the same year.

Guban changed his tune on Thursday, telling the House quad committee he was threatened after he was cited in contempt by the Senate.

“Nakita ko po staff mga Blue Ribbon, may sumunod po sa kanyang pumasok deretso sa k’warto, tuloy-tuloy po akong dinuduro, 'Jimmy pag binanggit mo ang mga pangalan na to, ‘pag binanggit mo to, mamamatay ka lalo na kung makakarating ka sa Pasay City Jail. ‘Di tatagal ang buhay mo'. The worst sinabay pa niya anak ko, ‘alam natin kung nasaan anak mo sa Makati, madali kidnapin ‘yan’… ‘Your honors alam nyo kung sino ang ayaw na ayaw niya pabanggit? Na halos pa lang gusto na niya ako sipain bugbugin,” he said.

“Si Pulong (Duterte), si Mans (Carpio), si Michael Yang, at ang sabi pa niya mga kaibigan 'yan ni [Benny] Antiporda, magkakasama yan, iisang pamilya yan, parati sa Malacañang. Opisyal pa yan ng National Press Club.”

Pulong is Davao City Rep. Paolo Duterte, son of former president Rodrigo Duterte.

Mans, meanwhile, is the husband of Vice President Sara Duterte and Michael Yang is a Davao City businessmn who served as  presidential economic adviser to the former president.

Guban identified a certain Paul Gutierrez as the one who allegedly made the threat. Gutierrez, a former journalist and former National Press Club officer, is executive director of the Presidential Task Force on Media Security.

Guban added he was later told by an NBI official to link former Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV to the drug shipment but he refused.

A business dummy, Guban said, was named as consignee of the cargo.

“Kami po ang nanghuli. Ano ang particular na batas na iva violate ko? Conspiracy to import? Or ‘yun ang grand conspiracy na linisin ko ang pangalan ng First Family at si Michael Yang para pagsalitain pa ako at papirmahin na ang kasama doon sa importation isang pulitiko na kalaban nila na hindi ako pumayag dahil sabi ko walang alam yan,” he said.

Guban said he has not personally met Rep. Duterte, Carpio, or Yang who he accused of engaging in illegal importation, saying he got the information from a councilor in Davao he named as Nilo “Small” Abellera.

“Ako’y naniniwala sa statement ni Jimmy Guban. Bakit po? Itong si Small is very close, councilor po ito sa Davao and he is very close to the personalities na binanggit ni Jimmy Guban. In that note, i really believe his statements,” said Rep. Johnny Pimentel, 2nd District Surigao del Sur.

Guban had formally recanted his earlier statement linking Acierto before the Manila Regional Trial Court last year where he was convicted for violating the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act.

He is now detained in the Bureau of Corrections, while his appeal is pending before the Court of Appeals.

Appearing in the committee, Guban asked for immunity from prosecution, and be placed under the custody of the House of Representatives and the government's witness protection program.

The House quad committee granted Guban’s request to be placed under their custody.

BuCor chief Gregorio Catapang personally guaranteed Guban’s safety, while his papers are being processed.

Quadcom lead chair Rep. Ace Barbers said the House committees will still have to weigh Guban’s credibility even as the House granted Guban’s request to apply for the WPP. 

“Tignan natin if we can further expound on whatever he has especially kung ano ebidensya. Definitely kung itoy walang ebidensya hindi po natin ititreat na mabigat… kasi mabigat na akusasyon ito,” Barbers said.  

DENIAL

Rep. Duterte, Antiporda, and Gutierrez have issued statements denying Guban's allegatiions.

"Hindi ko po kilala si Jimmy Guban at sigurado ako na hindi rin niya ako kilala. Wala kaming anumang transaction o ugnayan kaya walang rason na siya ay pagbantaan kung babanggitin man niya ang pangalan ko,” said the Davao congressman.

“Nais ko pong ipa-alala sa taumbayan na ang salitang ‘star witness’ ay humahalimbawa lamang sa mga taong nagsasalita ng katotohanan lamang at may kredibilidad.”

"Hindi po si Jimmy Guban ang taong yan sapagkat siya po ay na i-contempt na ng Senate Blue Ribbon Committee dahil sa kanyang pagsisinungaling. Klaro po na walang kredibilidad ang taong yan at walang basehan ang kanyang mga sinasabi noon pa man, kaya di ko po alam kung bakit bigla po siyang naging star witness dito,” he added.

Antiporda, meanwhile, said Guban’s statement lacked evidence.

“For one, I do not know him as he himself admitted that he does not know me. For another, while I know Michael Yang, Mans Carpio and Polong by their names, I do not personally know any of them, have not met them, much less talked to any of them personally or electronically at any occasions,” he said.

Gutierrez called Guban an “inveterate liar.”

“His statements against me are all falsehoods and clearly fed to him by someone else,” he said. 

Gutierrez denied knowing personally any of the Dutertes, Carpio, and Yang. He also said he never never had dealings with Guban while he was still covering the Customs beat, “although the things I’ve been hearing about him at the waterfront are all unsavory.”

He also said he has never threatened Guban.

“At the time that he said that I confronted him at the detention center of the Senate, I am not an ‘assistant’ of Mr. Benny Antiporda but a reporter and columnist for my newspaper, People’s Tonight covering the customs and Senate beat. As the Senate and customs beats are my area of coverage, I need to be there to cover the drug smuggling probe and all hearings at the Senate,” he said.

“As a lowly reporter, I am not in any position to make any threats to him, and according to him, in front of a Senate Blue Ribbon Committee staff. As a matter of rule, visits to any Senate detainee had to be approved by the chair and the result reported to him.”

While he admitted visiting Guban once after the Senate ordered him detained, he said it was for the purpose of “checking on his health condition.”

“Many at the time believed that he is just feigning ill health to avoid further questioning. I also want to confirm from him if a former National Press Club officer is his ‘PR’ as this former officer is seen attending the Senate hearings although he no longer represents any newspaper. He did not answer me.”

Meanwhile, a number of personalities were issued cause orders to explain their absence in the hearing, including the wife of former presidential spokesperson Harry Roque and other incorporators of Biancham Holdings, former Roque aide Alberto Rodulfo dela Serna, and officials of alleged operators of illegal POGOs.

Roque was absent in the hearing, citing his attendance in a court hearing in Manila.