A twist in Royina Garma’s version of the drug war drama

Retired Lt. Col. Royina Garma was silent for 32 seconds when she was first asked if she was a contributor to Davao City’s bloody drug war when Rodrigo Duterte was mayor there and she was chief of a police station.

When Kabataan Party Rep. Raoul Manuel repeated his question, the embattled Garma replied, “Yes, Mr. Chairman,” at the request of House Four Committee Chairman Robert Ace Barbers for clarification.

In past hearings of the Quad committee – made up of the dangerous drugs, public order and security, human rights and public finance committees – Garma denied her role in the drug war despite repeated questions from lawmakers.

But the Quad Committee’s eighth public hearing on the interconnected issues of illegal online gaming operators, illegal drug trafficking, extrajudicial killings and the Chinese syndicates had an interesting twist when Garma submitted a four-page affidavit denouncing her personal involvement in and revealed knowledge about former President Duterte’s campaign against illegal drugs.

Garma, who has been imprisoned for contempt in the House of Representatives for a month, revealed that a few days before Duterte took the oath as president on June 30, 2016, she received a call at 5 a.m. asking her to appear in his office to report the apartment. Duterte asked them to find someone, a member of the Iglesia ni Kristo, who would lead a special police task force that would replicate the so-called “Davao model” of the drug war at the national level.

Deputies said they were surprised by Garma’s affidavit and later took advantage of her “cooperation” by asking her more questions about the drug war until after midnight.

Through tears, Garma read her affidavit that mentioned Duterte’s plan, including the organizational structure, the workings of the task force, and the reward system for the arrest and death of drug personalities. Police operations that lead to the arrest of suspects would mean reimbursement of costs, while those that end in deaths come with a reward of P20,000 for street drug users and up to millions of pesos for the “high-value targets,” i.e. drug lords.

Antipolo Rep. Romeo Acop, a retired police general, noted during the hearing that Duterte’s drug war campaign has turned police operations into a “service for profit” rather than a service to the country and its people.

“You didn’t do your job because you love your job or this country. “You did your job because of the reward,” he said, revealing that they had agreed in senior police chat groups not to admit anything about the reward system for drug-related killings.

During the hearing, Garma didn’t just lose his temper. She also looked emaciated, but her tone was not as arrogant as in her previous appearances.

“It took me a week to do some reflection…I realized that if we truly want to make this country a better place to live and for our family, the truth will always set us free and I can at least contribute to it.” Children, I think I have to do something to boost the confidence of the PNP, push reforms through the PNP and support people, whether victims or criminals, in the world,” she told lawmakers who asked what she suddenly did caused a turnaround.

She said she needed to “return” to her core values, particularly her belief that “the truth will always set me free,” adding that this was the same message her daughter shared with her before her appearance at the congressional inquiry have.

However, Garma’s affidavit did not provide any information about her role in the structure of the drug war operation. Only when asked by the legislator did she comment on this, albeit hesitantly.

What it highlighted was the immense power of Col. Edilberto Leonardo, who worked with current Senator Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go in Duterte’s drug war operations.

Leonardo resigned on October 4 as commissioner of the National Police Commission, the body that reviews PNP appointments and enforces disciplinary measures, following allegations of his involvement in extrajudicial killings linked to the drug war. He was one of five former and current PNP officials identified as “suspects” in the case before the International Criminal Court.

Garma broke down as she spoke about her fears for her safety and that of her family, relatives, friends and classmates. When asked if the fear was due to her relationship with Duterte, she said, “It’s normal when you tell the truth that you can’t please everyone, and it’s normal for everyone to have these mixed feelings.” But still, it took me a week to think about it and realize that I have to do my part.

In the Quad Committee’s previous hearing, Surigao del Sur Rep. Johnny Pimentel described Garma as a “ruthless murderer” who hides behind “an innocent façade to commit brutal crimes.”

Pimentel also cited statements from police Lt. Santie Mendoza and retired Cpl. Nelson Mariano that Garma, as PCSO executive director, orchestrated the assassination of retired police general Wesley Barayuga, who was then PCSO board secretary, to prevent him from exposing corruption within the state-owned corporation.

She was also accused of being involved in the killing of three Chinese drug lords in Davao Prison and Penal Farm in 2016.

Pimentel also noted former Cebu City Mayor Tommy Osmeña’s statement that when Garma was the Cebu City police chief from 2018 to 2019, at least 198 drug-related killings were recorded there.

At the Quad committee hearing on October 11, Garma said: “I am very sorry.” [on] In the name of my men na nagkamali sa inyo.

Is Garma going through a reparation process or should we believe Senator Go that her last statement before the Quad Committee was merely a “clear diversionary tactic to confuse the real issue” about her alleged role as a “mastermind” in the assassination of Barayuga?

In fact, Garma’s revelations about Duterte’s war on drugs, particularly the reward system, had already been reported in the media. But some details, including Go’s central role in its operations, are worth pursuing.

Between Garma and Go, who sounds credible?

According to the statements of confessed Davao Death Squad hitmen Edgar Matobato and Arturo Lascañas, Garma is now the first senior member of Duterte’s inner circle to turn against the former president and his associates in connection with the bloody drug war.

But lawmakers are not convinced that Garma has told everything she knows about Duterte’s drug war. The plot in the drug war drama becomes more and more interesting as the Congressional investigation gets closer to the exciting part.

If the Marcos government will pursue cases against the senior officials responsible for the thousands of drug-related killings, including the former president, it can likely convince the ICC that the country has a functioning justice system and is not just chasing after them subordinate agents.