PNP committee to investigate Garma revelations on Duterte’s war on drugs

Retired police colonel Royina Garma  (INQUIRER / NIÑO JESUS ORBETA)

MANILA, Philippines — A committee tasked to investigate the revelations made by retired police colonel Royina Garma in connection with the killings during the Duterte administration’s bloody war on drugs has been formed, according to the Philippine National Police (PNP). 

PNP chief General Rommel Marbil, however, said they are still waiting for the report from the House of Representatives quad committee as they gather more information related to the killings.

Among the cases discussed during the previous House hearings were the killing of three Chinese nationals at the Davao Penal and Prison Farm (DPPF) last August 2016, retired general and Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) board secretary Wesley Barayuga, and former Tanauan, Batangas Mayor Antonio Halili. 

“On our part meron na kaming committee to investigate all the allegations being made by Col. Garma regarding doon sa EJK (extrajudicial killings) and other matters. So we are just waiting po,” Marbil said in a press conference on Monday. 

(We already have a committee  to investigate all these allegations made by Col. Garma related to the EJKs and other matters. So we are just waiting.)

“Our probe is continuous and like what the DILG secretary said, we have to wait for the full report of the quad comm, but what we are doing right now is getting more information, he added in Filipino.

In a statement on Sunday, Marbil said that former PNP chiefs should clarify their roles in the Duterte administration’s drug war.

During the previous and the latest hearings, Garma was linked to the killing of Barayuga. She also claimed that a PNP official reportedly “bragged” about being behind the death of Halili. 

Garma likewise alleged that then president Rodrigo Duterte and other high-ranking officials during his administration sanctioned covert operations replicating the “Davao City model” of extrajudicial killings on a national scale.

In her affidavit, Garma disclosed that Duterte allegedly contacted her about the creation of a national task force, and among the key figures in implementing the reported scheme was Colonel Edilberto Leonardo, Commissioner of the National Police Commission. 

Garma said Leonardo collaborated with Duterte and his aide, now Senator Christopher “Bong” Go, to establish a new task force.

Additionally, she alleged that Leonardo conducted briefings for all Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency officials and even PNP chiefs.

He also had the final authority on who would be on the watchlist.