Ex-PCSO GM Garma returns to PH after US asylum denial

Royina Garma, former general manager of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO), returned to the Philippines on Saturday from Los Angeles, California, after her asylum application was denied in the United States.

She was apprehended by US immigration authorities in San Francisco due to her canceled visa shortly after arriving in November 2024.

An expedited removal order was issued against Garma upon her arrival in San Francisco.

Garma left the Philippines again on Sunday night for Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, departing as a tourist.

The Bureau of Immigration (BI) confirmed her departure, noting that while she is under an Immigration Lookout Bulletin Order, no hold departure order or arrest warrant has been issued against her.

Murder and frustrated murder complaints have been filed against Garma in the Philippines for the death of PCSO board secretary Wesley Barayuga, with allegations identifying her as a mastermind.

Garma had previously left the Philippines to attend House Quad Committee hearings into the Duterte administration's drug war, where she was accused of ordering Barayuga's killing, a claim she denies.