Kaufman: Garma as ICC witness is a political move vs Duterte

The possibility that retired police colonel and former state lottery official Royina Garma may be a witness for the International Criminal Court (ICC) against former president Rodrigo Duterte is only a political move against him, said his lead legal counsel Nicholas Kaufman on Tuesday.

“The Justice Secretary laments the intentionally lazy investigation of Royina Garma yet corroborates what the Defence for the former President has known from the moment of his rendition to The Hague; namely, that international justice and its organs for Mr Remulla are merely tools to be used to serve a political end,” Kaufman said in a statement.

He also called out Remulla’s move to reveal Garma as a possible witness in Duterte's case.

“For reasons, most certainly not innocent, Secretary of Justice Remulla seems to feel entitled to broadcast, to the entire world, the ICC Prosecution’s proposed witnesses, purported places of interview and working methodology,” Kaufman said.

“The Defence is forbidden from commenting on Prosecution evidence and witnesses in the media. Indeed, had the Defence acted in a fashion similar to that of Justice Secretary Remulla, it would have been accused of perverting the course of justice,” he added.

On Monday, Remulla said Garma was a subject of his conversation with Senator Trillanes a few months ago, adding that he has never talked with the former Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) manager. 

“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.

Garma was deported on Saturday after her asylum request was rejected by authorities in the United States, where she had been held since November 2024 for a canceled visa.

Garma is currently facing a complaint for murder and frustrated murder for allegedly ordering the 2020 murder of former PCSO board secretary Wesley Barayuga.

During an inquiry by the House of Representatives, Garma said former President Rodrigo Duterte asked her to look for an officer to bring the Davao model for the drug war on a nationwide scale.

"This Davao Model referred to the system involving payments and rewards. The Davao Model involves three levels of payments or rewards. First is the reward if the suspect is killed. Second is the funding of planned operations (or COPLANS). Third is the refund of operational expenses,” she added tearfully.

She explained that the Davao model is a system involving payments and rewards ranging from P20,000 to P1 million.

Duterte is currently detained in the Scheveningen Prison in The Hague for alleged crimes against humanity for his deadly war on drugs when he was mayor of Davao City and when he was president of the Philippines.

Government records showed that there were over 6,000 drug suspects killed in police operations during the previous administration's drug war, but human rights organizations reported that the death toll may have reached 30,000 due to unreported incidents.

The ICC has postponed Duterte’s scheduled hearing after the latter’s camp said that he was “not fit to stand trial.”  — BAP, GMA Integrated News