The thumbnail of a YouTube video purportedly showing retired police colonel Royina Garma’s detention in the United States last Nov. 7 is actually a photo of a 57-year-old housewife being arrested in Malaysia on charges of conspiring to kidnap her husband.
The thumbnail accompanying in the video posted on Nov. 13 by YouTube channel Jessie Ferrer 7 showed an encircled photo of a captured woman with a text:
Muntik ng makatakas! Naharang sa US airport si Royina Garma (Nearly escaped! Royina Garma was blocked at a US airport).
Garma, who exposed the “cash-for-killings” system under former president Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs, was detained by US authorities in California last Nov. 7 due to a canceled visa and is now getting investigated for alleged money laundering and human rights violations.
A reverse image search showed the YouTube channel had flipped horizontally the photo of Chan Wan Kooi, a grandmother of four in Johor Bahru, who was charged last Nov. 10 for conspiring with three others to kidnap her husband, a 59-year-old developer, on Oct. 13 for RM20 million (₱264,161,252) in ransom.
The photo was also published in other sites such as The Straits Times, The Rakyat Post and Inquirer.net.
The YouTube channel added a flipped picture of Garma bursting into tears on the left side of the thumbnail. It was taken at the House quad committee hearing on extrajudicial killings and Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators on Oct. 11.
Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla said on Nov.19 the justice department is looking to use the Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters between the Philippines and the US to bring Garma home as soon as possible.
Garma is a former general manager of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office and served as a police officer in Davao City until 1997. She recently confirmed to the House quad committee the existence of the Davao Death Squad, a vigilante group that allegedly carried out EJK during Rodrigo Duterte's term as mayor.
Jessie Ferrer 7’s video has garnered over 18,384 views with 222 likes as of writing. The channel was created in November 2018 and has 634,000 subscribers. The video has been crossposted to Facebook page Viral Videos and shared to 14 different Facebook groups. (CB)