RETIRED police colonel Royina Garma, the former general manager of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO), has returned to the Philippines after her asylum application in the United States was rejected.
Garma, who has faced scrutiny for her alleged ties to the Duterte administration’s drug war and the murder of a senior PCSO executive, arrived at Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 1 on Saturday evening aboard Philippine Airlines Flight (PR) 113 from Los Angeles, California.
The Bureau of Immigration confirmed Garma’s arrival and posted a photo of her on its official Facebook page. Government sources indicated that Garma was deported after her asylum application was denied and arrived with escorts from the US government before being turned over to BI for routine processing.
Her return comes almost 10 months after she was initially detained by authorities in California on November 7 of last year due to a canceled visa. While the Philippine Department of Justice (DOJ) had previously ordered the BI to facilitate Garma’s return, she subsequently filed for asylum, according to her lawyer Emerito Quilang.
Garma is currently facing a complaint for murder and frustrated murder in connection with the 2020 killing of former PCSO board secretary Wesley Barayuga, allegations she has vehemently denied.
She has also been questioned by lawmakers regarding her role in implementing the “Davao model” for the drug war on a nationwide scale, following a directive from former President Rodrigo Duterte. Garma’s return coincides with the upcoming confirmation of charges hearing at the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands, related to Duterte’s war on drugs, adding further significance to her presence back in the Philippines.
