Royina Garma (left) and former president Rodrigo Duterte (Facebook, Malacañang photo)

House quad-committee (quad-comm) witness Rpyina Garma has admitted to receiving a call from former president Rodrigo Duterte after her explosive Oct. 11 testimony wherein she accused him of spearheading in 2016 a nationwide, cash reward-driven war on drugs. 

And she felt the need to apologize for what she did. 

Garma reappeared as a resource person during the ninth hearing of the special four-way panel Tuesday, Oct. 22, wherein the alleged extrajudicial killings (EJKs) in the Duterte drug war was again the main topic. 

Garma--during the interpellation of ACT Teachers Party-list Rep. France Castro--was asked whether or not she received a call recently from Duterte. 

"Yes, your honor...After I testified your nonor, last Thursday (Oct. 17)," the former Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) general manager told Castro. 

It was ealier established in the quad-comm hearings that Garma and Duterte were quite close. She was an appointee of the former chief executive. 

"Hindi ka naman nag-sorry sa kanya dahil nagsabi ka ng totoo? (Didn't you say sorry because you told the truth?)" Castro asked Garma, who is detained within the premises of the House of Representatives upon the order of the quad-comm. 

"Actually nag-sorry po ako (Actually, I did say sorry). Yes, I said I’m sorry," answered Garma. 

In her testimony last Oct. 11, Garma claimed that Duterte asked her for recommendations of a person from the Iglesia Ni Cristo (INC) who could implement the so-called "Davao model" on a nationwide scale during a meeting at his residence in May 2016. 

After her initial hesitation, she recommended to Duterte her fellow retired colonel Edilberto Leonardo as the implementer. 

She went on to say that cash rewards for drug war kills under Duterte ranged from P20,000 for street-level suspects to P1 million for "chemists, traders, manufacturers, financiers, and ninja cops".  

Asked if Duterte sought to prevent Garma from further testifying in the quad-comm, the latter said that she received no such words from the ex-president. 

"Wala po, wala po siya, di niya ako pinigilan (There were no such remarks, he didn't stop me)," Garma told the congresswoman. 

BUT FIRST, READ THIS:

https://mb.com.ph/2024/9/27/garma-denies-romantic-relationship-with-duterte

Castro, a House deputy minority leader, told Garma that she shouldn't be the one apologizing. 

"Hindi dapat tayo mag-sorry sa kanya. Dahil mag-sorry siya, si former president Duterte, ay mag-sorry do’n sa libu-libong tao, mga kabataan, mga inosente, na pinatay niya," the Makabayan solon said. 

(We shouldn't be the ones apologizing to him. He should say sorry, former president Duterte, he should say sorry to the thousands of people, the youth, the innocent people that he killed.)

Leonardo

During the phone call, Garma said that Duterte explained to her his preference for the INC. 

"Inexplain niya sa akin why [INC] po ‘yong pinahanap...Your honor, ang sabi niya mapagkakatiwalaan sa pera ang [INC]," the ex-PCSO chief said. 

(He explained to me what he wanted someone from INC...Your honor, he said that the INC can be trusted with money.) 

"So ibig sabihin, nabibigyan ng pera si Col. Leonardo, ‘yong mga rewards? (So does that mean, Col. Leonardo handled the cash rewards?)" asked Castro, to which Garma answered, "It can be interpreted that way. Maybe, your honor."