Ex-PCSO GM Garma seeks US asylum amid murder raps

Former Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office General Manager Royina Garma is seeking asylum in the United States, as confirmed by her lawyer, Atty. Emerito Quilang.

Her asylum application was filed in November 2024, the same month she was apprehended by US Customs and Border Protection in San Francisco, California, due to a canceled visa.

Garma remains in the custody of US authorities, where she has been detained since November 7.

She is facing local murder and frustrated murder complaints for the 2020 killing of PCSO board secretary Wesley Barayuga, with the complaints filed in early February by a joint team from the PNP CIDG and NBI.

Aside from these, she admitted during a House Quad Committee hearing that former President Duterte tapped her to help set up the reward system for drug war killings.

House Representative Johnny Pimentel stated that Garma does not qualify for political asylum as she is involved in heinous crimes and not politically persecuted in the Philippines.

Pimentel distinguished Garma's case from former Iloilo City Mayor Jed Mabilog's asylum bid by noting that Mabilog was accused without evidence, while Garma has multiple witnesses against her.