FORMER Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) chief Royina Garma was questioned by some members of the House of Representatives over her “donations” to a party-list she created when she sat as general manager of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO).
Garma, during the quad committee hearing on extrajudicial killings Friday, September 27, 2024, confirmed that she established the STL Partylist.
Garma was appointed by former President Rodrigo Duterte as general manager of PCSO from 2019 until her resignation in 2022.
Garma said STL stands for Samahan ng Totoong Larong may Puso.
Joint committee co-chairperson Representative Dan Fernandez asked Garma if she had made a donation to the party-list, to which she initially denied, later changing her answer to “I cannot recall.”
Fernandez told Garma to stop lying. He then showed a screenshot of a Facebook post of the STL Partylist dated December 30, 2021, which showed the partylist and STL Foundation facilitating a donation of a check worth P2 million from the PCSO to Mandaue City Mayor Jonas Cortes.
“Stop lying, GM Garma. You put money from the PCSO,” Fernandez told Garma.
Fernandez alleged that the partylist’s second nominee was Garma’s cousin, while the first nominee was former Cebu City Medical Center (CCMC) administrator and former Calamba barangay captain Yvonne Cania-Barandog.
Yvonne is also the wife of Chuck Barandog, who was the aide-de-camp of Garma.
Fernandez continued presenting screenshots showing the STL Partylist donating housing units to some residents of Barangays Malubog, Sudlon II, and Pamutan through their Bahay Mo, Puso Ko initiative, while raising the question about the group’s funding sources.
Barandog, who answered Fernandez’s question, initially said a non-government organization (NGO) donated the housing units.
But Barandog later retracted his statement and said it was a group of businessmen who donated the houses.
He was then instructed to message his wife and ask for the names of the businessmen.
Meanwhile, former mayor Tomas Osmeña announced on his Facebook page that his appearance on the congressional hearing has been postponed to mid-October.
He was scheduled to appear again during the hearing on Friday.
Osmeña said he will use the extra time to incorporate additional information into his presentation.
Garma is currently being investigated for her role in Duterte’s bloody drug war.
Garma served as the CCPO chief from 2018 before her assignment to lead the PCSO. (JJL)