RETIRED police colonel Royina Garma, a pivotal and controversial figure from the administration of former President Rodrigo Duterte, is back on Philippine soil.
According to the Bureau of Immigration, Garma arrived at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Pasay City, Metro Manila at 6:19 p.m. on Saturday, September 6, 2025, on a flight from Los Angeles, California.
Her return marks the end of a nearly year-long stay in the United States, which concluded with her arrest by US immigration authorities in November 2024 over a canceled visa and the subsequent rejection of a reported application for political asylum.
Garma did not return as a mere private citizen; she is now in the country to face serious criminal charges, including murder and frustrated murder in connection with the 2020 killing of a colleague.
DUTERTE LOYALIST. Before her explosive public testimony, Garma’s career was inextricably linked to Rodrigo Duterte’s political ascent. She rose through the ranks of the Philippine National Police (PNP) in Davao City while Duterte was its long-serving mayor, holding positions in the anti-vice unit and the Women and Children’s Protection Desk.
In July 2018, she was appointed the first female police chief of Cebu City, a tenure marked by a bitter and public feud with then-mayor Tomas Osmeña, who accused her of harassing his political allies. Garma dismissed the accusations, famously declaring herself “the mayor’s hated but Duterte’s trusted.”
Her loyalty was rewarded. Fifteen days after retiring from the PNP in July 2019, Duterte personally announced her appointment as general manager of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO). This rapid promotion solidified the perception of her as a key presidential ally. She later acknowledged this special relationship during a 2024 House inquiry, stating, “Perhaps, Mr. Chair, I am special.”
BOMBSHELL ALLEGATIONS. Garma’s public persona transformed when she turned whistleblower against the very administration that elevated her. In testimony before a House of Representatives hearing last year, she exposed an alleged “reward system” for police who killed drug suspects during Duterte’s bloody war on drugs.
She claimed the incentives ranged from P20,000 to P1 million per target, depending on their level of threat. Garma alleged that a national task force provided bounties and operational funding, and that she was asked to replicate the so-called “Davao model” nationwide.
Garma named then-National Police Commission commissioner Edilberto Leonardo as the official tapped to implement the system. Her testimony provided an insider’s account of the mechanics behind the extrajudicial killings that human rights groups had long condemned.
CONTROVERSIES. While her testimony is a cornerstone for investigations into the drug war, Garma’s own record is fraught with serious allegations. The most severe is the murder charge she now faces. In February 2025, the National Bureau of Investigation filed complaints against Garma and Leonardo for the ambush-slaying of PCSO board secretary Wesley Barayuga on July 30, 2020.
A witness, police Lieutenant Colonel Santie Mendoza, testified that Leonardo ordered him to arrange the hit, claiming the directive came directly from Garma. Mendoza further alleged Garma provided the vehicle Barayuga was using and passed intelligence details to Leonardo, who relayed them to the gunman.
This is not the only killing linked to her. Other witnesses accused Garma of ordering the 2016 murder of three Chinese drug convicts at the Davao Prison and Penal Farm, allegedly tasking her boyfriend to carry out the act. Separately, during her time at the PCSO, she was accused of nepotism for hiring her daughter, cousins, and a sister-in-law, a practice she defended as based on “trust and confidence.”
Garma was also questioned over her role in creating a party-list linked to the Small Town Lottery (STL), to which a foundation connected to the party-list received a P2 million donation from the PCSO. Garma has denied all allegations of wrongdoing.
PUSHBACK. The officials Garma implicated have forcefully denied her claims. Senator Bong Go, Duterte’s longtime aide, dismissed her allegations as “malicious and unsubstantiated.” From his detention cell at the International Criminal Court in The Hague, former President Duterte also rejected her assertions. Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa, who was the PNP chief when the drug war was at its most intense, stated he had no funds to pay for such rewards.
WHAT’S AT STAKE. Garma’s return to the Philippines is a high-stakes development. Her testimony remains a critical component for any effort to hold top officials accountable for the thousands of killings under the Duterte administration.
The former police official’s physical presence makes her a direct and accessible participant in these legal processes. However, she is simultaneously the primary suspect in a murder plot. This dual role as a key witness and an accused murderer complicates her credibility and places her in significant legal and personal peril.
Garma’s case highlights the complex and often murky relationships that defined the previous administration.
WHAT’S NEXT. With her asylum bid over, Garma’s future will be decided in Philippine courtrooms. She must now directly confront the murder and frustrated murder charges filed by the NBI. Her legal battle is expected to be a protracted and closely watched affair, potentially revealing more details about the inner workings of both the PCSO and the violent anti-drug campaign.
For now, a central figure who once moved in the inner circle of power is back, no longer as a protected official, but as a respondent in a capital case. (TPM/SunStar Philippines)