Retired Police Colonels Royina Garma and Edilberto Leonardo (Facebook)


 

Surigao del Norte 2nd district Rep. Robert Ace Barbers is prodding the Department of Justice (DOJ) to file murder charges against retired Police Colonels Royina Garma and Edilberto Leonardo for the 2020 ambush-slay of Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) board secretary Wesley Barayuga. 

Barbers, overall chairman of the House quad-committee (quad-comm), said in a statement Wednesday that the DOJ need not wait for the conclusion of the mega-panel's investigation on the assassination.  

“We are in close coordination with the DOJ. They have representatives monitoring our hearings precisely because we are unearthing evidence of criminal activities and other acts of wrongdoing in the course of our inquiry. They should interview our two witnesses last Friday and assess their testimonies,” Barbers said. 

He was referring to police Lt. Col. Santie Mendoza of the Philippine National Police-Drug Enforcement Group (PNP-DEG) and Nelson Mariano, a drug informant of Mendoza. 

During last Friday's House quad-comm hearing, Mendoza and Mariano testified that former PCSO general manager Garma and National Police Commission (Napolcom) Commissioner Leonardo planned and funded the July 30, 2020 assassination of Barayuga.  

Barbers said the justice department should already take cognizance of the two witnesses' testimonies and affidavits, and file murder charges against Garma and Leonardo as soon as possible. 

“They do not have to wait for the report of the joint committee, which will include a recommendation to file such charges. The panel will take time to write the report since the inquiry is still ongoing,” he said. 

Surigao del Sur 2nd district Rep. Johnny Pimentel, suggested during the hearing Friday that such recommendation be included in the committee report. 

Pimentel said it was clear from the testimonies of Mendoza and Mariano that Garma and Leonardo, who were among the retired PNP officials close to former president Rodrigo Duterte, were allegedly behind the killing of Barayuga, himself a retired PNP general. 

In his testimony, Mendoza said that in October 2019, Leonardo, allegedly upon Garma’s request, asked him to “operate” on a "high-value target", later identified as Barayuga. 

He said in the context of the Dutere administration’s bloody war on illegal drugs, the term “operate” meant liquidation or killing the target. 

Garma and Leonardo are Mendoza’s seniors or upperclassmen at the Philippine National Police Academy (PNPA). 

The a police officer said he obeyed his PNPA seniors’ instruction by asking Mariano to contact a potential hitman, whom the two of them called “Loloy". He said Leonardo also told him that a trusted aide of Garma, known as “Toks,” would call him for other details. 

It was Toks who allegedly gave Mariano--acting as Mendoza's middleman--P300,000 as payment for the successful hit on Barayuga, who was a graduate of the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) Matikas Class of 1983. 

Quad-comm vice chairman, Antipolo City 2nd district Rep. Romeo Acop, also a PMA graduate, said the late PCSO board secretary was killed because he opposed Garma’s desire to expand PCSO’s small-town lottery (STL) operations, including the grant of STL franchises to friends of Garma. 

“That was the real motive. They just made it appear that Atty. Barayuga was involved in drugs. He was a victim of the war on drugs. He was a simple man. He rode public transportation and brought his ‘baon’ (packed food) to his office,” he said. 
 

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Acop also chided then PCSO chairperson Anselmo Pinili, a PMA classmate of Barayuga, for allegedly suppressing information about his classmate’s ambush-slay.

Bayaruga family's reaction 

Also on Wednesday, Barayuga's family led by the late official's widow, Sarah, issued a statement thanking the quad-comm and the witnesses for their efforts, which had led to the PNP's re-investigation of the case. 

"This gives us comfort even while we know that we are stil far from receiving justice," the family's statement read. 

"Sa huling apat na taon inupuan ang kaso at pinaasa ang aming pamilya na may ginagawa sila ukol dito (For the past four years, they sat on the case and gave our family false hope that something was being done about it). At this point, it is difficult to trust and put our hopes up. 

"However, we believe that this is God's way of serving justice and clearing Wesley A. Barayuga's name whose case was alleged to be drug-related in a desperate attempt to cover up their tracks," the statement further read. 

To this, Barbers said: “Aming ipinapangako sa pamilya ni Wesley Barayuga na gagawin namin ang lahat upang mapanagot at maparusahan ang mga taong nasa likod ng kanyang pagpaslang." 

(We promise the family of Wesley Barayuga that we will do everything in order to hold accountable and punish the people who are behind his killing.)