Quad Comm witness also implicates Napolcom chief
An active police lieutenant colonel accused former Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Officer general manager Royina Garma of ordering the murder of a fellow PCSO official in 2020.
In a sworn statement, Lt. Col. Santie Fuentes Mendoza—a member of the PNP Drug Enforcement Group—told the House Quad Committee that Garma ordered the killing of former police Gen. Wesley Barayuga, who was then PCSO board secretary.
Garma, however, said she was shocked by the fresh accusation against her, adding that she had a cordial relationship with her late PCSO colleague.
“We were okay. I don’t recall ever having a conflict with him,” Garma said during the interpellation of Rep. Jonathan Keith Flores.
“I am surprised I am being implicated in this. I did not expect this. I was never investigated or questioned after his death,” she added.
Garma said it was the first time she heard of Mendoza, but admitted she could not recall if the two of them met prior.
Earlier, Garma was also implicated by at least four Quad Comm resource persons as the one who reportedly relayed instructions to execute three suspected Chinese drug lords inside the Davao Prison and Penal Farm in 2016 at the onset of the previous administration’s bloody drug war.
One of the resource persons also implicated former President Rodrigo Duterte, who allegedly congratulated Supt. Gerardo Padilla, the former warden of the Davao Prison and Penal Farm, through a phone call following the killings of suspected Chinese drug lords Chu Kin Tung, Li Lan Yan and Wong Meng Pin.
Mendoza’s affidavit detailed a chain of events that purportedly led to the execution of Barayuga, perpetrated in broad daylight in Mandaluyong City in 2020.
He said the plot began in October 2019 when police Col. Edilberto Leonardo contacted him about a “special project” involving the elimination of Barayuga, who was allegedly involved in illegal drug activities.
Mendoza said despite his initial hesitation, he was pressured into agreeing to the plan because the order reportedly came directly from Garma, then PCSO General Manager and a former PNP official.
“Colonel Leonardo said that undertaking this project would dictate the direction of my career as a police officer,” said Mendoza in his sworn statement.
“Colonel Leonardo also said that we will not have any difficulty in conducting the operation because Ma’am Garma has already issued a service vehicle for Wesley Barayuga to use, and gave me the description and plate number of the vehicle.”
“He said that we can shoot Wesley Barayuga after he leaves the building,” Mendoza added.
Following the successful assassination of Barayuga, Mendoza alleged that Garma authorized a payment of P300,000 to the operatives involved in the hit, with the money being distributed by a middleman named “Toks.”
Mendoza claims he received P40,000 as his share of the payment, and further alleged that the operation was conducted under the supervision of both Garma and Leonardo.
Leonardo, who is now Napolcom commissioner, denied the accusation.
He said to his recollection, he only met Mendoza once and they never had any working relations.
“I cannot order him to do anything because I do not know him. I just know he is an underclass,” Leonardo said.
Rep. Johnny Pimentel of Surigao del Sur, for his part, said: “This was not just a random act of violence. This was a calculated murder ordered at the highest levels to protect individuals engaged in corrupt practices at the PCSO. It is clear that the murder of General Barayuga was intended to stop him from testifying against the corruption plaguing the agency.”
“The timing of the murder shows the motive. Barayuga was about to expose PCSO corruption in its STL operations, and suddenly, he is gunned down. The killers knew they had to act fast to protect their racket,” Pimentel added.
