MANILA, Philippines – Retired police colonel Royina Garma told the House quad committee on Tuesday, October 22, that former president Rodrigo Duterte phoned her after she testified before the panel, but claimed that he did not say anything about her testimony.
During the one-minute call, Garma said Duterte explained why he trusted Edilberto Leonardo, whom the former president allegedly tapped to lead the replication at the national level of the anti-drug operations in Davao City.
“He just explained why he wanted an officer who is from Iglesia ni Cristo,” Garma said in Filipino. “He said Iglesia ni Cristo people can be trusted with money.”
House Deputy Minority Leader France Castro clarified: “Does that mean Colonel Leonardo can be trusted with money, with rewards?”
“It can be interpreted that way,” Garma replied.
During the eighth day of hearing of the quad committee on October 11, Garma directly implicated Duterte in the drug war killings, saying that after Duterte won the 2016 presidential election, he recruited people to implement the “Davao model” nationwide.
The Davao model refers to a system of payment which rewarded drug war actors for successful killings, funded planned operations, and refunded operational expenses.
Leonardo supposedly coordinated with police officers in implementing the operation and processing rewards.
Garma told the quad committee on Tuesday that during the call, Duterte did not make any appeal to stop her from telling the truth.
“Actually, I said sorry,” Garma said.
“We should not say sorry to him. Former president Rodrigo Duterte should be the one saying sorry for the thousands of innocent people he killed,” Castro replied. – Rappler.com