The House Quad Committee cited ex-PCSO chief Royina Garma in contempt for being evasive to queries as to her close relationship with former President Rodrigo Duterte.
“That (closeness) is the perception…I do not feel that I am close (to Duterte),” Garma said in response to lawmakers’ questions.
Garma will be detained in the House of Representatives until the inquiry of the four joint committees ends.
The committee likewise cited former Duterte presidential spokesperson Harry Roque in contempt for refusing to submit documents required by the panel.
The subpoenaed documents include business records, tax returns, and Statements of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth (SALNs), which are deemed crucial to the committee’s investigation into Roque’s alleged links to illegal POGOs.
The Quad Committee also ordered the detention of Police Master Sergeant Arthur “Art” Narsolis, who was implicated in the 2016 killing of the three suspected Chinese drug lords.
Narsolis was cited in contempt for repeatedly ignoring subpoenas from the panel.
Ome of the self-confessed hitmen specifically named Narsolis as the one who allegedly visited him in July 2016 with a proposition to kill the Chinese inmates, claiming approval from higher-ups and offering a reward of P1 million per target.
Narsolis reportedly referred to the reward as “isang manok kada ulo (one chicken per head).”
Batangas Rep. Gerville Luistro, Taguig Rep. Amparo Maria Zamora, Deputy Speaker David Suarez, and Antipolo Rep. Romeo Acop took turns in questioning Garma about her career as a PNP official and later as PCSO general manager.
Garma held several police posts in Davao City, including being the station commander of Sasa and Sta. Ana, head of Women’s Desk of the Davao City Police, and administration officer of the Davao City police station.
Zamora focused on news articles she gathered about Garma and her marital problems with her ex-husband, Roland Vilela.
The lawmaker said according to news articles, Garma even appealed to then-Mayor Duterte to retain her ex-husband in Davao City as a member of the police force.
Acop questioned how Garma could have retired from the PNP in June 2019 – with 10 years of PNP service left – days before she was appointed to the PCSO.
“This representation, I think, would also believe you decided to take optional retirement because you knew for a fact that you can get the position in the PCSO,” Acop said.
As for Roque’s case, Luistro noted the stark contrast between Roque’s modest government salary and the sudden surge in his assets, including shares in Biancham Holdings, a family-owned company.
Luistro said Biancham’s assets reportedly surged during the POGO boom from P125,000 in 2016 to P125 million in 2018.
“It is the humble submission of this representation that the Quad Committee has established overwhelming circumstantial evidence showing the connection of Atty. Harry Roque to Lucky South 99, which is a POGO operation,” Luistro said.
Lucky South 99 is an illegal POGO firm in Porac, Pampanga, raided last June, where authorities uncovered evidence of human trafficking, torture, scam farms, prostitution, a porn hub, and various other illegal activities.
Luistro said Roque’s inability to explain the sources of his wealth would bolster the evidence of his potential involvement in POGO operations.
“If he will not be able to prove the legal and valid source of this sudden increase of assets of Biancham, then there is reasonable ground to believe that, indeed, he is connected with POGO operation, and this money possibly came from the POGO operation,” she said.
