Poe: BI aware of Garma’s departure for US

Former Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office General Manager Royina Garma —PHOTO BY NIÑO JESUS ORBETA

The Bureau of Immigration (BI) did not prevent retired police official and drug war witness Royina Garma from leaving the country because there was no hold-departure order (HDO) or immigration lookout bulletin order (Ilbo) against her.

“That is the reason why we know exactly where she was. There was a secondary inspection done … they were not able to verify any lookout bulletin or any order for her to be detained,” said Sen. Grace Poe when asked if the bureau was aware of Garma’s departure.

Poe made the remark in the Senate on Wednesday in defense of the BI’s allocation in the proposed 2025 national budget.

READ: Royina Garma, daughter arrested, detained in California – DOJ

Garma, who flew with her daughter to San Francisco, California, was arrested on Nov. 7 after being marked out by the US Citizenship and Immigration Services, which replaced the US Naturalization and Immigration Service, for her canceled US visa.

Garma left for the United States after she testified at the House quad committee investigation into extrajudicial killings (EJKs) linked to the drug war of former President Rodrigo Duterte.

The House committee earlier confirmed that it released Garma since she had finished serving the penalty for her contempt citations in past hearings.

Exposé

Garma, who was impleaded in the 2017 crimes against humanity case filed against Duterte before the International Criminal Court, revealed the existence of a reward system, allegedly put in place by Duterte himself, for killing drug suspects.

Asked if the BI was aware of the lifting of the contempt order against Garma, Poe answered: “Yes, they had to verify, that’s why they called her aside to check [and] call, I guess, Congress to ask them.”

Alice Guo case

Meanwhile, Senate Minority Leader Francis Tolentino, who sponsored the funding request of the Philippine National Police, told senators that no politician nor police official was found to be involved in the escape of dismissed Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo, in July.

“There was an [internal] investigation conducted, and its result showed that there is no police officer that was involved in her escape,” said Tolentino.

This prompted Senate deputy minority leader Risa Hontiveros to remark: “She managed to mysteriously escape, apparently, with only foreigners and no Filipinos helping her.”

Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. Senior Vice President Raul Villanueva, in one of the Senate hearings on illegal Philippine offshore gaming operators, earlier said that reports were being validated about a former PNP chief supposedly involved in Guo’s escape.

But Villanueva, a retired general, admitted that he had no confirmation or verification of the information.

“General Villanueva was subpoenaed, and he issued, executed a sworn affidavit that there [were] no policemen involved,” said Tolentino on Wednesday.