Gwyneth Perseveranda

Former Police Colonel Royina Garma revealed that then-President Rodrigo Duterte wanted to implement the war-on-drugs on a national scale, replicating the ‘Davao model’.

Photo Courtesy of AFP/The Manila Times.

As the House Quad Committee hearing resumed on October 11, Garma stated that in May 2016, Duterte instructed her to find a Philippine National Police (PNP) officer, who is a member of Iglesia ni Cristo, capable of implementing the anti-narcotics campaign nationwide.

This ‘Davao model’ pertains to a system of payments and rewards which involves three levels: first, the reward if the suspect is killed; second, the funding of planned operations; third, refund of operational expenses.

The cash reward is said to range from P20,000 to P1 million.

“Initially, I informed the president that I was unaware of any individuals with those qualifications, as I had not been assigned outside of Davao, nor had I served in a national capacity with the PNP,” Garma stated.

“However, I recalled my upperclassman, Edilberto Leonardo, who was handling the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) and was also a member of Iglesia ni Cristo,” she added.

Garma recommended Leonardo, the current commissioner of National Police Commission (NAPOLCOM) to Duterte.

“Leonardo subsequently informed me that they had prepared a proposal routed through Bong Go, outlining the task force’s operations, which would encompass Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao,” the former Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office General Manager Garma said.

She noted that Duterte wanted the task force to be patterned from the defunct Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Task Force, currently known as the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission.

In the system, Garma detailed that the “rewards” were only granted to the officers who dispatched drug suspects.

For those who only arrested drug suspects, they were provided with funding for the Coplan and reimbursed for their expenses.

Garma learned that after the task force became ‘operational’, the funds for cash rewards for the members and refunds were processed through the bank accounts of a certain Peter Parungo in Metrobank, BDO and PS Bank.
Meanwhile, on October 12, reelectionist Bong Go flat out refuted the allegations in a statement.

"Nais kong klaruhin na walang reward system na iniimplementa noon kapalit ang buhay ng sinuman," Go said.

"The former President has stated clearly numerous times that his administration never sanctioned nor tolerated any form of senseless killings," he stated further.

Chief-turned-Senator Bato Dela Rosa said “he has no idea” about the reward system and Duterte’s aspirations to implement war-on-drugs the ‘Davao way,’ during an interview on October 12.

“I have no idea about that reward system,” Dela Rosa said.

“During my time as the chief PNP, I did not engage in a reward system because I had no funds for that. The only reward system in the pop is the DILG-approved list of the most wanted persons," he explained.

"I did not believe in such a system because it is a sworn duty of every policeman to keep his area of responsibility free from drugs,” Dela Rosa added.