Garma changes tune; implicates Duterte in ordering drug war on a national scale

Former police colonel Royina Garma, who has been at the center of a House inquiry after being accused as the brain behind the killings of a peer and three alleged Chinese drug lords, sang a different tune late Friday, directly implicating former president Rodrigo Duterte in the brutal drug war of his administration.

Garma, who rose through the ranks and was later appointed by the former president as general manager of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) during his tenure, told the House quad comm that she was ordered to endorse police officers capable of implementing the war on drugs on a national scale.

According to Garma, the marching order was given by no less than Duterte himself in a personal meeting with her in May 2016, a month before he took office.

She disclosed that Duterte's directive involved the creation of a national task force that would mimic a so-called "Davao model," a system that rewarded police for killings.

"This Davao model referred to the system involving payments and rewards. The Davao model involves three levels of payments or rewards. First is the reward if the suspect is killed. Second is the funding of planned operations (or COPLANS). Third is the refund of operational expenses,” said a sobbing Garma while reading her affidavit.

"Rewards were only given for killings, while for arrests, ony the funding of the COPLAN and a refund for the expenses was given," she added.

As part of her compliance, Garma recommended then-Police Col. Edilberto Leonardo, her upperclassman at the Philippine National Police (PNP) Academy, who was then with the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG).

Both Garma and Leonardo have been accused of masterminding the assassination plot of PCSO board secretary Wesley Barayuga, a retired police general, who was killed in an ambush shortly after leaving the office in July 2020.

Earlier this week, Leonardo resigned from his post as chief of the National Police Commission amid the murder allegations.

According to Garma, Leonardo was later summoned by Duterte to form the specialized task force. 

She detailed that Leonardo’s role expanded, and a formal proposal for the task force’s operations was submitted to Duterte through Senator Christopher "Bong" Go. 

“Leonardo subsequently informed me that he had prepared a proposal, routed through Bong Go, outlining the task force’s operations, which would encompass Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao,” she said. 

Leonardo and his operatives began executing their plans, with Garma serving as an intermediary between him and Go during the initial months.

Garma’s affidavit also shed light on the inner workings of the task force, which Leonardo led. 

She revealed that the task force had a reward system in place, where only killings would earn payments. 

She explained that the funds were funneled through the bank accounts of Peter Parungo, a former detainee, and meticulously tracked by Leonardo’s team.

“Leonardo had the final authority to determine who would be included on the list of drug personalities and to classify their threat levels, as well as the discretion to remove individuals from the list,” Garma added.

Garma also disclosed that the operations extended beyond the streets to key penitentiary systems, with drug activities allegedly originating from the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor).

She recalled overhearing discussions between Leonardo and other officials about drug activities at the Davao Penal Colony, specifically mentioning BuCor officers involved in the drug trade who were later killed.

Garma’s "shocking" testimony came after one week of self-reflection. She clarified that no one had forced her to execute the affidavit.

"I realized that truth will always set us free, Mr. Chair. And at least I will be able to contribute if we really want to make this country a better place to live," she told the quad comm.

"We have to do something to restore the trust in the PNP, to reform the PNP," Garma added.