Garma not pressured to testify vs. Duterte - Barbers

Metro Manila, Philippines – There was no pressure on a retired police officer prominent during the Duterte administration to testify in the ongoing House of Representatives hearing on the controversial war on drugs that has revealed a number of high-profile personalities, a ranking lawmaker said on Tuesday, Oct. 15.

House quad committee co-chairperson and Surigao del Norte Rep. Ace Barbers crushed aside claims from former officials that PCol Royina Garma (ret.) was pressured to testify against former President Rodrigo Duterte.

“Prinessure siya? Hindi ho ginawa yun sa Kongreso. She was with her lawyer. In fact, kung napansin nyo, na-obserbahan nyo, nung hearing na yun, yung araw na yun, gabi na nung inilabas niya yung kanyang affidavit. Dahil naka-gabay yung kanyang abogado para masabi niya, gusto niyang sabihin na katanggap-tanggap sa komite,” Barbers told NewsWatch Plus in an interview on Tuesday, Oct. 15.

[Translation: Pressured? That wasn’t done by Congress. She was with her lawyer. In fact, if you noticed, during that hearing, that same day, she only released her affidavit late in the evening. This was because her lawyer was guiding her to ensure that what she wanted to say was acceptable to the committee.]

The lawmaker noted that Garma had expressed her intention to disclose more information regarding the Duterte administration's war on drugs.

“Mukhang meron pa siyang gustong idagdag. Apparently, dun sa huling pagdinig, nabanggit niya doon na kung meron pa akong matatandaan at meron pa akong may dadagdag na impormasyon, gagawin ko po yan, magpapasa po ako ng supplemental affidavit. Iyon ang iniintay namin kung meron pa siyang nasabihin. As of now, as we speak, nasa detention facility siya,” said Barbers.

[Translation: It seems like she wants to add more. Apparently, during the last hearing, she mentioned that if she remembered anything else or had additional information, she would submit a supplemental affidavit. We are waiting to see if she has anything more to say. As of now, she is in a detention facility.]

Ex-Duterte chief presidential legal counsel and spokesperson Salvador Panelo said Garma’s knowledge of the Duterte drug war was "hearsay."

“What is evident is that Garma may have succumbed to threat or intimidation under pain of prolonged incarceration if she did not make the allegations contained in her affidavit,” said Panelo in a statement.

Barbers said Garma should provide more evidence and have another witness corroborate her statement.

“She should substantiate her claims. Anyway, she has given her statement. She has to corroborate this with another witness, or maybe some documentary evidence that will corroborate her statement para magkaroon ng klarong litrato o picture kung ano nga ba yung pagkakaugnay o pagkaka-involve nitong mga personalidad na nabanggit niya,” he said.

[Translation: She should substantiate her claims. Anyway, she has given her statement. She has to corroborate this with another witness or maybe some documentary evidence that will provide a clearer picture of the connection or involvement of the personalities she mentioned.]

Duterte yet to respond to House invitation

Meanwhile, Barbers said the committee had sent an invitation to the former president to attend the hearing, but there is no response as yet.

He said should Duterte agree to attend, the hearing would not grill or embarrass the former president.

“You can expect that if you believe in us and you think that we have one word, there is no grilling to a point that we will embarrass anyone or humiliate anyone. Wala ho kaming capacity to do that,” said Barbers.

[Translation: You can expect that if you believe in us and trust that we mean what we say, there will be no grilling to the point of embarrassing or humiliating anyone. We do not have the capacity to do that.]