Royina Garma may become ICC witness —SOJ Remulla

Retired police colonel Royina Garma may become a witness for the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the crimes against humanity case against former President Rodrigo Duterte, Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla said Monday. 

“I think she has agreed to be a witness, according to Senator Trillanes. I’ve been working with Senator Trillanes because we have no real official relationship with the ICC, except for the fact that we protect the witnesses who are here,” Remulla said.

During hearings of the House Quad Committee on the drug war,  Garma claimed that former President Rodrigo Duterte asked her to look for an officer to implement the Davao model of the drug war on a national scale.

Garma said the Davao model referred to a “system involving payments and rewards.”

This has been denied by Duterte.

Meanwhile, the DOJ secretary said Garma was a subject of his conversations with former Senator Antonio Trillanes IV a few months ago, later adding that he has never personally talked with the former Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) manager.

He said that the ICC asked Trillanes to make Garma available as a witness.

“We protect the witnesses who are here who may be the subject of an ICC request because we have to protect our witnesses. The complainants are from here, the witnesses are from here, so it’s just right for the DOJ to protect the citizens who are inclined to testify,” he said.

GMA News Online has sought Garma’s camp for comment and will publish it once available.

For his part, Trillanes confirmed Remulla’s remark, saying that Garma will testify against Duterte should the case proceed to trial.

“She will testify against Duterte,” Trillanes told reporters.

Garma returned to the Philippines on Saturday from Los Angeles, California.

The development came almost 10 months since she was held by authorities in California in the United States on November 7 last year due to a canceled visa.

However, she left for Malaysia as a tourist on Sunday evening, according to the Bureau of Immigration. Remulla, meanwhile, said that she will meet with ICC personnel there.

For Remulla, the best way to protect Garma is to meet the ICC abroad.

“Because her life can be in danger in our country. Let’s face it. Uniformed personnel ang kalaban. So as we speak, she’s with them right now. With the ICC people in Malaysia,”  he said.

Key witness

When asked about the importance of Garma's testimony, Remulla said she would be the “highest-ranking police officer” that can be asked regarding the narrative of the drug war.

For her part, ICC assistant to counsel Kristina Conti said that Garma is a “key” witness that connects Duterte to the drug war killings through her statements.

“Na-establish noon is the direct hand of Rodrigo Duterte in the nationwide killings. The testimony of Garma that she was asked to refer to personalities and that she was in a meeting on how to exactly implement the Davao template nationwide is crucial to connect Duterte,” she said in a Zoom interview.

“Ito crucial, paano ba ang reward system sa mga pulis o, malamang, sa mga DDS members na titira o magkakaroon ng accomplishment sa killings,” she added.

(This is crucial, on how the reward system for the police or the DDS members who make an accomplishment in the killings work.)

Conti also believes Garma has the strongest testimony on the alleged quota and reward system on the drug war.

Meanwhile, Conti clarified that there is no appointed common legal representative of victims in the ICC case yet.

“Wala pang pormal na appointment ng common legal representative of victims dahil sa ngayon prino-proseso pa ang victim applications. Pero inaasahan namin anytime within the next few weeks,” she said.

(There’s still no formal appointment of the common legal representative of victims because the victim applications are still being processed. But we are expecting this anytime within the next few weeks.) 

According to Conti, families of the victims expressed hope that their legal representative would be someone who could understand them and whom they would understand.

“Sana makapag appoint naman tayo ng abugado na kayang intindihin sila at naiintindihan nila kapag nagsasalita o nagpapaliwanag. Sa initial ang lumalabas, sana meron naman pong abugadong Pilipino na makasama sa kaso,” she said.

(They hope that the lawyer who will be appointed is someone that understands them and someone that they can understand when he’s explaining what is happening. So based on the initial information, they want a FIlipino lawyer on the case.)

Barayuga slay

Meanwhile, Garma and former NAPOLCOM Commissioner Edilberto Leonardo are facing complaints of murder and frustrated murder in the Department of Justice for the killing of PCSO board secretary Wesley Barayuga.

Remulla said that though they will reevaluate the complaint, they will not let the complaint go unfinished.

“We will still run after it and we will see how this will play out. Because the testimony in the ICC is very important, I think. And not only that, the Wesley Barayuga case is equally important. It cannot go unnoticed,” she said.

“She will be testifying here also. She has a commitment to testify,” she added.

Duterte was arrested on March 11 at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport after arriving from Hong Kong. Shortly after, he was transferred to ICC in the Hague. 

His allies and children have filed various petitions with the Supreme Court over his arrest and transfer, arguing that the ICC has no jurisdiction in the country.

The Philippines withdrew from the Rome Statute, which established the ICC, in March 2019 during the Duterte administration. 

Government records showed that around 6,200 drug suspects were killed while human rights organizations say that numbers reach up to 30,000 due to unreported related slays.—AOL/RF, GMA Integrated News