Former Cebu City Police Office Director PCOL Royina Garma answers questions from the Quad-Committee, which continues its fifth hearing at the House of Representatives in Quezon City on September 12, 2024. Maria Tan, ABS-CBN News

MANILA — Allegations by retired police official Royina Garma that former President Rodrigo Duterte called her in 2016 for help in setting up the government’s bloody war on drugs are bringing the sweeping House quad com hearings closer to the former chief executive, who has a standing invitation to appear before the four panels holding hearings.

Made in a signed affidavit, Garma’s allegations implicated Duterte and his close aide Christopher “Bong” Go in the supposed “Davao Model” that was the framework for the war on drugs.

Members of the House’s “Young Guns” — a group of younger lawmakers at the lower house — called Garma’s claims “just the tip of the iceberg” as they promised the investigation, already projected to extend into the 20th Congress, would continue "until all the facts are laid bare.."

READ: Garma says Duterte tapped 'Davao Model' on killing drug suspects

But for families of victims of the drug war,  the affidavit is a confirmation of Duterte’s alleged involvement as well as hope for justice for family members who were killed, lawyer Kristina Conti said Sunday.

"‘Yung iba, medyo may ‘sabi na nga ba eh… tama yung haka-haka',” Conti, who represents some of the victims’ families and who is assistant to counsel at the International Criminal Court said on Teleradyo Serbisyo. 

(Some of them said 'I knew it, our suspicions were correct')

She added: "Kalakhan, nangangapa, in a sense, 'Simula na ba ito? ito na ba ito?" 

(But mostly they are unsure. 'Is this where it starts? Is this it?)

Conti acknowledged that shifting political winds, including the rift between the Marcos and Duterte factions of the former administration alliance, have made the hearings and Garma's testimony possible.

"Aware kami doon sa risk na meron talagang nakapatong sa ibabaw niyan na poilitical color...pero kami, sabi namin, welcomin na natin ito dahil pagkakataon ito para malaman ang katotohanan," she said.

(We are aware of the risk that there is political color running through this, but, for us, we welcome these developments because this is a chance for us to know the truth)

RELATED: Why Garma revealed details on 'cash-for-killings' under Duterte

PANELO: IT'S ALL HEARSAY

But for Salvador Panelo, Duterte's former chief legal counsel, Garma's allegations are all hearsay and do not really implicate the former President.

He said Garma, who has been implicated in the 2019 killing of Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office board secretary Wesley Barayuga, may have been pressured to make the statement, which he said was only made to look like she was cooperating with the quad comm — the four panels holding hearings into issues related to the Duterte administration.

"Kung pinipilit ka magsalita…. gagawin niya in such a way na hindi tatayo sa korte," he said in a separate Teleradyo Serbisyo interview.

(If you are being pressured to speak... it can be done in such a way that will not stand in court)

He said that Garma’s claim that the supposed phone call happened in May 2016, when Duterte was not yet president, raises suspicions that it happened at all.

Duterte took office on June 30, 2016 but was proclaimed president-elect on May 30. It was also clear as early as election day on May 9 that he had won by a landslide.

He added that Garma cannot claim knowledge of the drug war arrangements since she says she had declined to join the group she had been tapped to organize. At any rate, he said, Garma was only alleging things that she heard or had been told about.

"Sa madaling sabi, hearsay. Wala siyang personal na kaalaman sa ikinikuwento niya — ikinuwento lang sa kanya," he said.

(In other words, hearsay. She has no personal knowledge of what she is testifying on — it was all just told to her)

READ: Bato says he has 'no idea' about alleged reward system for cops in drug war

Sen. Ronald "Bato" Dela Rosa on Saturday — implementor of the drug war from 2016 to 2018 —  said he has "no idea" about a supposed reward system for drug personalities killed in anti-drug operations, claiming there was no money for that anyway when he was PNP chief.

Go, meanwhile, said Garma's claims are just "diversionary tactics to muddle the true issue she is facing – her participation in an alleged murder plot."

PNP PROMISES INVESTIGATION, HOUSE HEARINGS TO CONTINUE

For Conti, Garma's affidavit still has value and is admissible because it is relevant to the current investigation but will have to to be evaluated against other pieces of evidence that may yet come out. 

She said while the investigations are welcome, especially since they would not have been possible while Duterte was president, the Marcos Jr. can do more to ensure justice for victims of the drug war, including formally informing ICC of the new information.

"Kumbaga, anong gagawin ninyo sa ganitong mga revelation? Uupuan lang ba? O kakalimutan na lang ba? Importanteng may mangyari pagkatapos. Hindi pupuwedeng ‘OK, thanks’," she said.

(What I mean is, what will the government do about these revelations? Will they sit on it? Or will this just be forgotten? It can't just end in an 'OK, thanks')

In the meantime, Police Gen. Rommel Francisco Marbil, PNP chief, said Sunday that his predecessors should clarify their roles in the drug war in response to Garma’s allegations.

READ: Police officer confirms 'quota, reward system' during Duterte drug war

"We take these allegations very seriously. We will thoroughly investigate Garma’s claims to ensure accountability and transparency within our ranks," he said in a statement from the PNP Public Information Office.

The PNP and the government have long denied that there was a policy to kill alleged drug personalities in the drug war but has also maintained that many of the more than 6,000 acknowledged deaths had violently resisted arrest, the "nanlaban" (they fought back) narrative that reviews by the Department of Justice during the Duterte administration have since cast doubt on.

Members of the House have given weight to Garma's allegations, which Zambales 1st District Rep. Jefferson Khonghun said  "comes from the perspective of an insider who has not just the trust and confidence, or the eyes and ears of the former president, but even beyond that."

He added the affidavit is "not something that cannot be easily ignored."

La Union 1st District Rep. Francisco Paolo Ortega V said Garma's "explosive" testimony involves "thousands of lives lost to drug operations where even innocent children and teenagers were killed" and added that there is "much more to uncover."

Conti said she and the families of the drug war victims remain hopeful about the hearings, despite the “blatantly political" undertones.

"That’s the fairest way that you can present your case, actually, where there is the opportunity for the other side to come in and air their side," she said.

Panelo on Sunday said Duterte has yet to receive an invitation to the quad comm hearings but that the former president is torn between confronting House members and skipping proceedings altogether.

"Useless na umattend diyan (There is no point in attending that)," he quoted Duterte as saying on Sunday.

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