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Retired police colonel and former state lottery official Royina Garma, who had made arguably the most damning allegation yet in the ongoing congressional inquiry into former President Rodrigo Duterte’s brutal war on drugs, was arrested in the United States last week after her visa was canceled, according to the Department of Justice (DOJ).
Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin “Boying” Remulla has instructed the Bureau of Immigration to facilitate the repatriation of Garma, who was detained by US border control authorities on Nov. 7 in San Francisco, California.
Garma and her daughter flew to San Francisco via Philippine Airlines Flight PR104, and were marked out by the US Immigration and US INS (Immigration and Naturalization Service), Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla, brother of the DOJ chief, said on Tuesday.
“Over the course of the Senate hearings, her visa was canceled. It appears she tried her luck and went to the US,” Jonvic Remulla said in a press briefing, adding: “We don’t know why Garma’s visa was canceled. Actually, it’s the US prerogative to cancel it. From what I know, they will inform you if your visa is canceled. I’m sure she was informed.”
“They are currently detained and they are in the process of being sent home here back in the Philippines,” Jonvic Remulla said of Garma and her daughter.
Called to testify in the House investigation into extrajudicial killings (EJKs) linked to the Duterte drug war, Garma initially denied involvement in the death of three Chinese drug convicts in August 2016.
