MANILA – President Rodrigo Duterte said he is set to appoint Cebu City police chief Colonel Royina Garma as the new Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) general manager.
Garma, Cebu City’s first female police chief, will replace retired Marine general Alexander Balutan, who tendered his resignation last March after being accused of corruption.
“Balutan has been out, si Garma ang papalit,” Duterte on Monday said.
Before becoming the first female director of Cebu City, the 45-year-old Garma was a former station commander in Davao City and the head of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group-Central Visayas.
Duterte’s selection of Garma did not come as a surprise as the latter was known in Cebu in replicating the tough law enforcement style of Duterte.
Balutan, who was appointed by Duterte in 2016, was accused by PCSO board member Sandra Cam of throwing a “lavish” Christmas party in 2017. He claimed that only P6-million was spent in the party, instead of the proposed P14-million budget.
A former Marine officer, Balutan came to prominence after he testified in a Senate hearing in 2005 on how allies of former president and now House of Representatives speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo allegedly rigged results in Lanao del Sur to her favor in connection with the 2004 presidential election./PN
