By Diego Mora
After admitting that former president Rodrigo Duterte organized a reinforced scheme to expand his killing machine from Davao City to the entire country on Oct. 11, 2024, retired police Col. Royina Garma should expose everything she knows how Duterte, his valet and now Sen. Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go as well as the original executor of Oplan Double Barrel, former Philippine National Police (PNP) chief and now Sen. Ronald “Bato” de la Rosa, implemented the “war on drugs.”
De la Rosa, who jumped over hundreds of superiors when he was named by Duterte as PNP director-general, was notorious for threatening to kill his underlings if they don’t follow his orders and if they continue their “corrupt” practices. His usual Camp Crame diatribe has been recorded for the Senate to watch. Those threats came as the “drug war” landed in Manila and Duterte loyalists were reassigned to do their bloody campaign in Caloocan City, Quezon City and in Bulacan, areas where drug kingpins were alleged to have waged their own turf wars, a la Mexican cartels.
Her supplemental affidavit, read during the Oct. 11, 2024 quad committee hearing, has become the basis for her death sentence from Duterte himself, never mind if the subsequent revelations of retired Col. Garma would include an admission that she was, to use the colloquial, “syota ni Digong.” The very long affidavit of retired SPO4 Arturo Lascanas also disclosed that Davao City police officers believed Garma’s daughter was actually Digong’s progeny. Lascanas also revealed that the reward money for Davao City operations came from the Duterte bank located at the anteroom of the mayor’s office, where the paymistress held court. The assassins of the broadcaster Jun Pala were amply rewarded by the paymistress, P1.5 million being big money for hitmen, as his testimony showed.
That Garma was assigned to search for the foreman for the “war on drugs” by the architect himself, Duterte, falls squarely on the standard modus operandi of Digong, who apparently learned the ropes from a deceased police officer who was responsible for telling criminals to leave, or else they die. The officer was not born in Davao but in the Luzon province noted for producing “balisong” (butterfly knife) or the “bente nueve.” Lascanas knew the fellow officer and when Duterte took over as mayor, he inherited the unassuming but efficient cop. Garma’s revelations could only corroborate the testimony of Lascanas and another hitman, Edgar Matobato y Bernal, a militiaman who admitted executing civilians under Duterte’s orders.
The close Duterte-Garma ties were confirmed when Garma told the then president-elect Duterte in May 2016 on who could head the national task force to rid the country of the drug menace. Her choice was retired police Col. Edilberto Leonardo, who was a dedicated foot soldier who also happened to be a member of the Iglesia ni Cristo (INC), a Duterte requirement. The mission to execute the Duterte drug war was a sensitive one and only people who won’t squeal like Bong Go and Bato de la Rosa qualify. Add Garma to the list. As Machiavellian as he is, Duterte must have his own “matrices” on his circle of lieutenants to prevent them from talking. Apparently, trapped sewer rats eventually squeal. Their own blood is more important than Duterte’s ill-gotten cash.
In his denial on Oct. 12, 2024, Bong Co said he is lily-white on the issue of the bloody “war on drugs,” pontificating that “I have no participation whatsoever, directly or indirectly, in the operational requirements of the war on drugs.” Go is Duterte’s gatekeeper and anyone who wishes to see, talk or meet Duterte must pass through him. It has been reported that Go also keeps Duterte’s medicines and painkillers and perhaps the special equipment needed for his boss to breathe easier. Garma admitted he facilitated the meetings of Leonardo and Go initially. Beyond that, Garma seems to say, she was out of the loop.
In his pained denial, Bong Go said: “Let me be very clear. My office had nothing to do with the operation and organization of the police force. I also had no hand in the Office of the President’s finances since that was not part of my mandate before.” Curiously, he offered an apologia that confirmed his role in the scheme, by saying “however, I want to clarify that there was no reward system being implemented before in exchange for anyone’s life.” In law, his statement was negative pregnant, denying first but admitting later that he was in the know about the reward system. Filipinos were not born yesterday, honorable senator.
The usual sophomoric Go press release went on to plead with the Senate to conduct an impartial investigation into Garma’s statements, saying they were “clear diversionary tactics to muddle the true issue she is facing, her participation in an alleged murder plot.” If Go were monitoring the quad committee hearings at the House of Representatives, he would have known that the drift was not only on Garma’s abuses at the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) but also into the drug and the assassination of PCSO executive and retired Brig. Gen. Wesley Barayuga. For the finale, Go rued that “it’s saddening that times have changed. Politics are being mixed into investigations and we’re forgetting everything the previous administration did to rid the country of criminality and drugs for the future of our nation and our children.” So there, the Duterte valet essays the role of a Palace courtier lamenting that the country is not thankful for the 30,000 people killed in the drug and the thousands of victims of extrajudicial killings (EJKs) in its failed campaign against the New People’s Army (NPA.) The Duterte syndicate members should have their heads examined.###