The Department of Justice (DOJ) said on Tuesday, Sept. 30, it will seek the cancellation of the passport of former Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) general manager Royina Garma after a trial court issued an arrest order against her.
Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin C. Remulla said the DOJ will have to file a petition for passport cancellation before the court.
However, he said, he still believes that Garma will return to the Philippines.
“Wala naman s’ya pupuntahan na iba (Garma has nowhere to go). She has been refused asylum in the US,” he also said.
Garma left the Philippines last Sept. 7 to be a witness against former president Rodrigo Duterte before the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, Netherlands.
The Mandaluyong City Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 279 recently issued arrest warrants against Garma and her co-accused on murder and frustrated murder charges for the 2020 killing of PCSO board secretary and retired police general Wesley Barayuga and the injuries sustained by the victim's driver Jun Gunao.
Remulla said that the ICC is aware that Garma is facing charges when it asked her to become a witness.
He said he will discuss with National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Director Jaime B. Santiago if the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) should be requested to issue a “red notice” against Garma.
He recalled that Santiago was the last person Garma talked to before leaving the Philippines to become a witness before the ICC.