Expect tension to run high at the House of Representatives Quadcomm hearings when Davao City Rep. Paulo “Pulong”Duterte is given a crack to cross-examine witnesses who linked him and members of the Duterte family to serious violations of the law, including illegal drug trade.

The four House panels have agreed to allow Duterte, who is not a member of any of the involved committees, to participate in the next hearing, possibly on Monday (September 23) and grant him the opportunity to face his accusers.

However, it was not immediately known if the four previous witnesses who linked Duterte, ex-President Rodrigo Duterte and other Duterte family members will be recalled to the inquiry to face the solon.

The young Duterte is apparently prepared to grill the accusers as it was he who volunteered his presence in the next Quadcomm hearing.

At Thursday's hearing, Quadcom chairman and Surigao del Norte Rep. Ace Barbers ordered the committee secretary to extend the invitation to Duterte for a chance to participate in the proceedings.

“The letter (from Rep. Duterte) states that there are questions that the Hon. Paulo Duterte wishes to ask the resource persons,” said Barbers.

Duterte, eldest of former President Rodrigo Duterte's children, has been mentioned by a witness in connection with the alleged smuggling into the country of some P6.8 billion “shabu” in 2018.

During the quad comm’s August 16 proceedings, former Bureau of Customs intelligence officer Jimmy Guban claimed the Davao City lawmaker and his brother-in-law Manases “Mans” Carpio, husband of Vice President Sara Duterte, were involved in the illegal shipment.

Guban also implicated Michael Yang, a Chinese national close who served as economic adviser to former President Duterte, in the deal.

On the other hand, the former warden of the Davao Prison and Penal Farm and two persons deprived of liberty who were serving jail terms have linked Rep. Duterte’s father to the murder of three Chinese nationals inside the prison facility in 2016.

Corrections Col. Gerardo Padilla, together with confessed hitmen Leopoldo Tan Jr. and Fernando Magdadaro, gave testimonies linking the former president to the killing of the three convicted drug lords.