The lawmakers’ goal was to break Royina Garma.
It took a subpoena, hours and hours of interpellations, and detention before she finally cracked. On Friday, October 10, Garma dropped a bombshell testimony — the gravest allegation against former president Rodrigo Duterte in so far as the quad committee conducting marathon hearings is concerned.
Garma, who’s “very close” to Duterte, pinned him as the alleged mastermind of the bloody drug war that killed 30,000, going by the count of human rights advocates. In tears, Garma read her affidavit, narrating her knowledge about Duterte’s drug war.
In May 2016, Garma said the then president-elect called her at 5 am, instructing her to meet him at his residence in Doña Luisa, Davao City. They had a meeting and Duterte instructed her to find a Philippine National Police (PNP) officer or an Iglesia ni Cristo (INC) operative capable of implementing on a national scale the war on drugs that was executed in his home turf.
At first, Garma could not think of anyone that met Duterte’s criteria, until she remembered Edilberto Leonardo, her upperclassman from the PNP Academy — he was with the PNP Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) and was an INC member. Garma mentioned Leonardo to Duterte, and on the same day, Senator Bong Go’s former Palace aide, Irmina “Muking” Espino, allegedly contacted Garma and requested Leonardo’s personal details.
Through her former partner, cop Arthur Narsolis, Garma said she learned that Leonardo had been summoned by Duterte. Later, Garma said she was told by Leonardo that “he had prepared a proposal, routed through Bong Go, outlining the task force’s operations, which would encompass Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao.”
In other words, it would appear that based on Garma’s affidavit, Duterte tasked Leonardo, a member of PNPA Batch 1996, to implement a drug war plan, of which he (Leonardo) became head strategist.
‘Davao model’
In her affidavit, Garma detailed how Duterte and Leonardo worked together to create the national anti-drug campaign. She said the plan was patterned after the “Davao model” that saw killings allegedly rewarded by Duterte.
According to Garma, Duterte instructed Leonardo to organize a task force similar to the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Task Force (PAOCTF) to implement the campaign. The Davao Death Squad (DDS), according to the affidavit of DDS whistleblower Arturo Lascañas, was conceptualized in 1988, when Duterte was the mayor; it was known as an “anti-crime task force.” The task force eventually became the PAOCTF, which had a satellite office in Davao City headed by former PNP chief-turned-Senator Ronald dela Rosa.
“Garma confirmed our belief from the very start that the drug war just replicated the DDS system that existed in Davao before 2016,” former senator Leila de Lima told Rappler. De Lima probed the killings under Duterte when she was Commission on Human Rights (CHR) chairperson.
Garma, however, clarified that the creation of the task force did not push through. Instead, the police was mobilized for the national anti-drug campaign. She explained that the PNP CIDG Davao Region became the focal point of the operation. This makes sense as Leonardo, who was assigned to Manila at the time, was appointed Davao Region CIDG chief in June 2016 — the same month Duterte took the helm in Malacañang.
“Leonardo conducted briefings for all PDEA (Philippine Drug Enforcement Group), IG (intelligence groups), Regional Directors, and PNP chiefs regarding operations,” Garma said in her affidavit.
In the first three months of Leonardo’s assignment, Garma said she facilitated the meetings between him and Go, after which the two later established their direct communication. Garma said she was also informed by Leonardo that he picked “trusted personnel” to join the team.
These included Lester Berganio, Rommel Bactat, Rodel Cerbo, Michael Palma, and Peter Parungo. Bactat, Cerbo, and Palma were dismissed cops, according to Garma. Parungo, meanwhile, was a former CIDG detainee accused of rape, while Berganio was a private citizen.
Their assignments, according to Garma, who saw how they “operated,” were as follows:
- Bactat, Cerbo, Palma, and Parungo were tasked with collecting and verifying information from cops in the field concerning arrests and deaths of people in the drug list. They were also tasked to create a summary of the said reports.
- Berganio was tasked with encoding and compiling the reports that came from the four.
- Leonardo received the compiled reports and then decided the “level” of an arrest or killing and determined the corresponding reward.
“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.
Go was involved in the operation as he was the one who did a weekly report and processed the requests for refunds under the system, according to Garma. Leonardo also reported all killings during police operations to Go. Garma also clarified that the quota system was not part of the original instruction, but became discretionary on the part of regional chiefs.
Police could also volunteer to be part of the operation, according to Garma. The cops presented themselves if they were confident they coould get “the big fish in the area.” Among these volunteers, according to Garma, was Police Colonel Marvin Marcos, who led the operation inside the jail that killed Albuera, Leyte mayor Rolando Espinosa. Marcos confirmed volunteering but only for a position, and not to deliver kills in exchange for a reward.
Rappler has reached out to Dela Rosa and Go for more recent comments. The two, who are now senators, had already denied Garma’s allegations earlier.
Reward system
Under the Davao template, there were at least three levels in the payment system:
- First, if a suspect is killed
- Second, when planned operations are funded, also called “COPLANS”
- Third, when cops’ operational expenses are refunded
Kabataan Representative Raoul Manuel inquired about the payment per type of target, but Garma said she only knew of the payments’ range.
“There were certain amounts given from what I understand, starting P20,000 to P1 million, but I am not familiar with the bracketing,” Garma explained in a mix of Filipino and English, adding that the P20,000-reward could possibly be allotted for street-level drug suspects since they were at the lowest “level.”
The affidavit said rewards were given only for killings. Arrests merited from Leonardo only a COPLAN fund and a refund of the team’s operating expenses. All the money, according to Garma, were processed through Parungo’s bank accounts.
Garma, in the hearing, also presented a matrix that showed Leonardo at the heart of the campaign. The then-CIDG Davao Region chief was involved both in the operations and reward system.
The diagram also showed the PNP’s regional special operations groups, including the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency. Garma said she would later learn that it was Muking Espino who sent the reward money for distribution to operatives.
Piece of the puzzle
Garma’s testimony is an important piece of the puzzle in the probe into drug war killings. The new affidavit indirectly confirmed the systemic killings in Davao City. According to De Lima, among the vital points mentioned by Garma in her affidavit was Go’s alleged involvement in the so-called “national death squad” (NDS), referring to those involved in the drug war killings implemented nationwide.
“Not once was Bong Go suspected to have an active role in the DDS. It was always Buenaventura and Lascañas then Duterte. But in the NDS, it appears that Leonardo and the “special task force” reported directly to Bong Go. That is one significant information that is not in the CHR findings due to lack of confirmation,” De Lima said.
Garma’s revelations did not only reveal how Duterte came up with the drug war, but also showed that Leonardo was the bigger fish compared to her. In the Lascañas affidavit, Leonardo was only named as an alleged member, but did not include any specific detail about the supposed operation that Leonardo had joined. Garma’s affidavit finally showed the extent of Leonardo’s involvement in the drug war.
Garma also corroborated the earlier statement of former drug war poster boy, Police Lieutenant Colonel Jovie Espenido, about the campaign having a reward system. Espenido claimed the rewards came from local government units, from the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office’s (PCSO’s) Small Town Lottery, and even from Philippine offshore gaming operators, and intelligence funds. (READ: ‘PNP is biggest crime group,’ says police colonel)
However, Garma denied that the PCSO, which she once led, provided funds for the drug war’s reward system.
Garma’s testimony also complemented Lascañas affidavit as the latter only included the alleged killings when Duterte was still mayor up to the time before he ran for president. The new affidavit shows the inception of the drug war when Duterte was already elected president and how the campaign was launched and operated.
Can Garma’s testimony be used by the International Criminal Court that is conducting its own investigation into the drug war killings? For Kristina Conti of the National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers and an ICC-accredited assistant to counsel, Garma can be tapped by the international court as witness and could further qualify as an insider witness during the trial.
“Garma’s statement clearly identifies key actors in a policy that resulted in crimes against humanity. She brings critical evidence long sought by the ICC that establishes a systematic pattern to the ‘war on drugs,’ and connects the real, responsible perpetrators to the killings committed on the ground,” Conti told Rappler.
Garma’s own nightmare
Garma said no one coerced her to pin Duterte, saying that she realized the need to speak up after much reflection: “I made some reflections and I have to go back sa values na lagi kong sinasabi (that I always say)…. Always [tell] the truth because the truth will set you free.”
As of now, Garma said she does not face any threats for executing her affidavit, but she acknowledged the influence and power of the people she implicated in the drug war.
But despite all these, there’s a glaring detail in Garma’s revelation. In the hearing, she distanced herself from all the allegations, despite knowing the vital details of the drug war. Garma claimed that she refused to be part of the task force and did not know of any specific operation where she was ordered by a higher-up to kill. While she confirmed her knowledge of the killings and the reward system, Garma said she learned about the operations only from Leonardo.
Her revelations did not erase the fact that she remains implicated in other alleged crimes, besides the bloody drug war. Garma is tagged in the killings of three Chinese drug lords in Davao in 2016, along with other officials like Duterte and Leonardo.
She has also been implicated in the ambush of PCSO board secretary Wesley Barayuga, who was assassinated in 2020. On Friday, Garma said she received information about Barayuga’s alleged involvement in illegal drugs years ago and just relayed this to authorities for verification.
She maintained that she did not have any beef with the slain PCSO official. An informed source, however, earlier told Rappler that there was an issue inside the PCSO involving both officials when they were still in the same agency.
Garma was also previously questioned over her appointment to the PCSO and was accused of collecting millions of pesos from online gambling payola by former Cebu City mayor Tommy Osmeña. Garma was also the Cebu City police chief when the city became a hot spot of drug war killings.
“Her testimony notwithstanding, Garma should be taken to account under domestic laws. Her actions in Cebu and as PCSO should be investigated and prosecuted. She obviously needs to be more forthcoming with information about how the violence was carried out and who was paid with how much,” Human Rights Watch senior researcher Carlos Conde said.
Quad committee co-chairperson Bienvenido Abante said Leonardo has already given feelers about giving his testimony. If this pushes through, people should await whether Leonardo’s testimony will contradict or corroborate Garma’s allegations against Duterte.
But now that Garma has already spoken up, the former chief executive has been directly implicated, courtesy of the cop who was once “very close” to him. – Rappler.com
*Some quotes were translated into English for brevity
