House to probe Garma’s ‘money laundering’ in United States

MANILA, Philippines — The next agenda for the House of Representatives quad committee when it holds its next hearing will focus on whether or not former Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) general manager Royina Garma used diplomatic channels to send millions of pesos to the United States.

“This is the burning question that lawmakers are determined to answer as the House quad comm intensifies its probe into Garma,” the House, through the chairpersons, vice chairs and members of the special panel, said in a statement.

Garma, a retired police colonel prior to her appointment as PCSO chief, is perceived to be close to Rodrigo Duterte, an observation she herself admitted before the panel, with her short reply of “maybe” every time she was asked about her relationship with the former president.

News of Garma sending “millions of pesos, (and) converted to dollars,” to her ex-husband police Col. Roland Vilela in the US using the Philippine National Police (PNP)’s diplomatic channels, cropped up during the hearing on Sept. 27.

Vilela served as a police attaché at the Philippine consulate general in Los Angeles, California from 2020 to 2022.

Garma has been implicated in allegations of extrajudicial killings that occurred during the previous administration’s brutal war on drugs.

These revelations suggested possible misuse of government resources, specifically the PNP’s diplomatic pouches intended for official communications and attaché salaries, with testimony from PNP officials indicating that these channels may have been exploited for personal financial gain.

Former PNP chief Benjamin Acorda Jr. admitted to the questioning of Antipolo City 2nd District Rep. Romeo Acop, who is a lawyer and retired police general, that such a scheme would be possible.

Acorda confirmed that police attaché salaries and maintenance and other operating expenses (MOOE) were regularly sent through these channels.

“Yes, especially if there are some special occasions or visits and additional expenses that are incurred by our police attachés,” he said.

Acop pointed out the system’s vulnerability to misuse, asking if it could be used for personal transfers disguised as official ones.

“If it is a personal package, is it allowed? Would that be correct?” Acop asked, to which Acorda hesitantly responded, “Yes, to my understanding.”

Acop then questioned Vilela, who admitted receiving more than just his official salary through the diplomatic pouch.

Garma’s ex-husband admitted that the P120,000 he receives monthly from Manila, along with the $8,000 he earned as police attaché, are sent through diplomatic pouches, when Acop asked him where he receives the unspent MOOE funds.

Vilela’s admission raised further suspicion, prompting Acop to press harder to determine if the extra money came from personal sources.

This led to the testimony of police Capt. Delfinito Anuba, Vilela’s errand man, who was responsible for converting pesos into dollars and sending them to Vilela in the US.

Anuba revealed the extent of these transactions, confirming that he was instructed by Vilela to convert large sums of money into US dollars and send them through diplomatic channels.

Asked if he had converted pesos to dollars, Anuba confirmed, “Yes, sir,” and detailed the process, explaining that he collected the funds from Garma’s security team, specifically Sgt. Enecito Ubales Jr. Ubales is Garma’s first cousin.

Meanwhile, the Senate investigation into the Philippine offshore gaming operations (POGO) could be wrapped up to prevent the issue from being sidetracked or diluted and becoming a talk show, Sen. Joseph Victor Ejercito said yesterday.

Ejercito said the Senate and the House are both conducting investigations into POGO, with the upper chamber exposing the identity of dismissed Bamban, Tarlac mayor Alice Guo as Chinese Guo Hua Ping.

“Perhaps, as I mentioned to Sen. Risa (Hontiveros), her committee can wrap it up soon because it might go astray. There is already (an investigation) in the House and in the Senate, it seems like it is becoming a talk show,” Ejercito added.

The Senate committee on women, children and family affairs, chaired by Hontiveros is set to conduct its 15th hearing on Oct. 8. The committee has conducted 14 hearings, so far.

During the 14th public hearing on Sept. 24, Hontiveros said she had a “hope that the hearing will be the last hearing, but there are revelations that warrant further investigations and individuals whose side needs to be heard in the interest of fairness. Former PNP chief Benjamin Acorda Jr. will be invited to the next hearing again.”

Acorda is among those invited to the next Senate hearing on POGOs. — Cecille Suerte Felipe