THE POLICE organization may have been used to smuggle dollars from the Philippines to Royina Garma’s former husband in the United States of America, undetected by the prying eyes of the local public.
Police Captain Delfin Anuba told the House QuadCom that he was an errand boy for his former boss Col. Roland Vilela when the latter was Philippine police attaché to the USA in 2021, or at the tail-end of the Duterte administration.
Anuba said that on several occasions he was ordered to pick up money from Garma’s cousin Sgt. Enecito Ubales. He would then convert the pesos into dollars in a money exchange outlet somewhere in Malate, Manila.
***
The cash would somehow reach Vilela abroad, either through the banking system, or, shockingly, through the PNP network – possibly via diplomatic pouches or bags?
Diplomatic pouches enjoy quite a number of legal protections, including immunity from search and seizure. These immunities are spelled out in the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.
Upon Vilela’s instructions Anuba would get the money from the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office in Mandaluyong, where, as everybody knows, Garma held office as General Manager.
***
Anuba recalls at least two big tranches – one for P20 million and another for P30 million.
There are several other meet-ups for “small amounts.” They may be small compared with the two other earlier transactions, but they were substantial amounts from the point of view of the ordinary Filipino. They ranged from half a million to a couple of million pesos.
Where and how did Garma acquire all this cash?
***
Vilela was chosen by Iloilo Governor Arthur Defensor, Jr. to head the Iloilo Provincial Police Office in 2019. This was prior to his assignment as police attaché abroad.
Controversy apparently followed the police official because PNP regional director Rene Pamuspusan had to assemble a press conference and declare that Vilela “will perform well in this province. I will see to it that he will perform to the expectation of everyone, even higher probably.”
Vilela was hounded by allegations of sexual misconduct, among which was an accusation for rape that went nowhere because Garma allegedly sought the help of then Davao City mayor Rodrigo Duterte.
***
The House QuadComm had strongly implied that Garma was able to amass ill-gotten wealth as PCSO General Manager.
She managed to acquire pricey real properties both domestically and in the USA. Was her ex-husband one of her mules for dollar smuggling?
While romantically estranged, Garma and Vilela have apparently maintained a close relationship through the years.
***
Garma made a visit to the Davao Penal Colony together with her ex-husband and another member of PNPA Class 1997 – Col. Hector Grijaldo, just before three Chinese nationals were butchered in that Davao prison in August 2016.
Interestingly, Grijaldo was chief of police of Mandaluyong City when WesleyBarayuga, corporate secretary of PCSO, was waylaid in an ambush in July 2020.
Grijaldo’s ensuing investigation did not produce results. Is it because the crime was perpetrated right in Garma’s PCSO backyard?/PN
