Former police Col. Royina Garma (L) answers questions from lawmakers during the fifth quad-committee hearing held on Thursday, September 12, 2024. Garma was cited for contempt by the panel, after Abang Lingkod party-list Rep. Joseph Stephen Paduano found her lying and evasive in her answers. | Photo from House of Representatives Media Bureau
MANILA, Philippines — Former police Col. Royina Garma has admitted that she can directly visit former president Rodrigo Duterte when he was in Malacañang, by going through Senator Bong Go who was then special assistant to the president.
At the quad-committee hearing on Thursday, Antipolo 2nd District Rep. Romeo Acop was asking former police colonel and National Police Commission commissioner Edilberto Leonardo and other police officials as to who is the Philippine National Police (PNP) executive closest to Duterte.
READ: Padilla says Garma ‘pressured’ him to let Chinese inmates be killed
With Leonardo and Police Brig. Gen. Noel Sandoval saying that it is former PNP chief and now Senator Ronald dela Rosa, Acop — a former police brigadier general himself — said that he heard rumors that there is another cop closer to Duterte’s ears.
“I believe otherwise Colonel, you know why? Narinig ko na minsan ‘yong sinabi ni Bato (dela Rosa), meron pang isang opisyal na mas malapit sa tenga ni former president Rodrigo Roa Duterte,” Acop said.
(I believe otherwise Colonel, you know why? I heard Bato sometime before saying that there is another official nearer to former president Rodrigo Roa Duterte’s ears.)
“Hindi mo ba narinig ‘yon? […] Kasi sinabi talaga ni Senator Bato ‘yon, there is somebody in the PNP who is nearer (to) the ears of the President. Hindi siya nagbanggit ng pangalan, pero merong alingasngas kung sino ‘yon,” he added.
(Didn’t you hear that? […] Because Senator Bato really said that, there is somebody in the PNP who is nearer (to) the ears of the President. He did not name names, but there are rumors to who she is.)
Acop then turned to Garma, asking if it is true that he can go straight to Duterte and disregard her superiors.
“Madam Garma, you have always denied na close ka sa presidente. Pero there had been reports na ikaw, nakaka-deretso do’n sa Malacañang basta dumaan ka kay Senator Bong Go. Would that be correct?” Acop asked.
(Madam Garma, you have always denied that you are close to the president. But there had been reports that you can go straight to Malacañang as long as you go through Senator Bong Go. Would that be correct?)
“Yes your Honor,” Garma said.
“So ang tanong ngayon ng karamihan sa aking mga kasama kanina eh sino po ang mas malakas kay presidente sa inyong tatlo — Senator dela Rosa, Col. Leonardo, and Col. Garma? Siguro ‘yong mga tao na present ngayon, nanu-nood ngayon, kayo na po ang bahalang mag-determine kung sino po ang mas malakas kasi sa akin, meron po akong sariling panukala o pag-iisip kung sino,” Acop fired back.
(So the question of most of my colleagues here is who among you three have the strongest ties with the president — Senator dela Rosa, Col. Leonardo, and Col. Garma? Maybe the people present here, those who are watching have an idea, you be the one to determine who has the strongest clout, because for me, I have my own opinion on who that is.)
Garma, who also served as general manager of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office, was invited by the quad-committee because she was linked to the killing of three Chinese nationals detained at the Davao Prison and Penal Farm in August 2016.
READ: Ex-prison head does a 180: Garma called me over ops vs slain Chinese
Earlier, Bureau of Corrections S/Supt. Gerardo Padilla, who used to be warden of the Davao prison facility, admitted again that Garma talked to him over the killing of the Chinese nationals.
Garma was also cited for contempt by the quad-committee, after Abang Lingkod party-list Rep. Joseph Stephen Paduano found her lying and providing evasive replies during the hearing.
Garma was being asked by Paduano about her links to former president Rodrigo Duterte, given that she gained important positions in the government during the Duterte administration.
Garma denied these assertions from Paduano, leading the lawmaker to move for her contempt citation.
Upon further examination from Paduano, Garma changed her tone, now being open to the possibility of her being “special” to Duterte.