Ex-cop Royina Garma back in PH - BI

Metro Manila, Philippines - A retired police officer who squealed on a supposed reward system for drug war killings during the Duterte administration is back in the country from the United States.

Retired PCol Royina Garma returned from Los Angeles, California on Saturday, Sept. 6, the Bureau of Immigration (BI) said.

Garma and her daughter were detained in the US in November over canceled visas. The Department of Justice (DOJ) then ordered the BI to facilitate her return to the country.

However, Garma applied for asylum in the US. 

The former police officer delivered a bombshell testimony in the House quad committee investigation on former President Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs.

She said the Duterte administration had a reward system for drug war killings, allegedly adopting the “Davao model” on a nationwide scale.

Garma, also a former Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) general manager, is facing murder and frustrated murder complaints in the DOJ over the killing of then PCSO board secretary Wesley Barayuga in 2020.

Garma denied that she was the mastermind.