Cop claims Garma, Leonardo ordered killing of PCSO exec
MANILA, Philippines — Former Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office general manager Royina Garma and current National Police Commission (Napolcom) Commissioner Edilberto Leonardo have been tagged as masterminds in the fatal ambush of another PCSO official in July 2020.
The alleged involvement of Garma and Leonardo in the killing of PCSO board secretary Wesley Barayuga was revealed by police Lt. Col. Santie Mendoza at yesterday’s hearing of the House of Representatives’ quad committee on extrajudicial killings during the Duterte administration.
In his testimony, Mendoza recalled receiving a call from Leonardo in October 2019 informing him of a “special project involving a high-value individual who is believed involved in illegal drugs.”
Mendoza noted he was hesitant but an insistent Leonardo instructed him – without giving further details – to wait for a “go signal.”
In another call in February 2020, Mendoza said Leonardo informed him that the target was Barayuga.
Upon learning of Barayuga’s position, Mendoza said he sought further verification but was dissuaded by Leonardo, claiming that the order came from Garma, a former police colonel.
“Despite my hesitation … I was forced to comply because the order came from the higher-up and Col. Leonardo is an upperclassman while Ma’am Garma is a member of the Cabinet,” Mendoza said at the hearing.
According to Mendoza, he felt he had no choice but to follow the kill order for fear of his and his family’s lives, as Leonardo and Garma were both close to former president Rodrigo Duterte.
“Personally, I was thinking what would happen to my career as a policeman and the most important thing, I feared for my life and that of my family if I will not comply,” he maintained.
After accepting the assignment, Mendoza said he contacted one Nelson Mariano “who I know has networks for this kind of operation.”
Pandemic delay
The COVID-19 outbreak stalled the operation, and it was only after the lifting of some lockdown restrictions that he received another call from Leonardo, Mendoza related.
Mariano contacted a hitman, identified only as “Toks,” who carried out the ambush of Barayuga as he was leaving his office at the PCSO on July 30, 2020.
“After the successful operation, Col. Leonardo told me that Ma’am Garma gave P300,000 as payment for the job and this will be given to Toks and Nelson Mariano, who gave me P40,000 when we met as part of my payment,” Mendoza added.
Reacting to Mendoza’s testimony, quad comm member and Surigao del Sur Rep. Johnny Pimentel moved for the filing of murder charges against Leonardo and Garma. The panel is yet to decide on Pimentel’s motion.
Also during the quad committee hearing, Leonardo was ordered detained at the House premises after being cited in contempt for lying about separate cases of murders way back in 2016.
Leonardo was ordered detained at the detention facility of the House on the motion of Abang Lingkod partylist Rep. Stephen Paduano.
He was held in contempt for lying about a meeting that supposedly preceded the murder of three Chinese drug lords – Chu Kin Tung, Li Lan Yan and Wong Meng Pin – inside the Davao Prison and Penal Farm (DPPF) in August 2016. Garma was also linked to the killing of the three Chinese drug lords.
Former DPPF chief Gerardo Padilla told the committee about the presence of Leonardo and Garma during the meeting.
Garma cousin held
Also ordered detained yesterday was a police cousin of Garma, Police Sergeant Enecito Ubales Jr. for lying about his involvement in her allegedly over P50-million financial transaction. He was ordered detained at the Quezon City Jail.
It was panel overall chair and Surigao del Norte Rep. Robert Ace Barbers who moved for citing Ubales in contempt for “consistently lying” during the hearing
In his testimony, Police Captain Delfinito Anuba said that Ubales had been involved in suspicious financial transactions linked to Garma.
Anuba alleged that Ubales gave him P30 million to convert into US dollars, allegedly on Garma’s instructions.
He claimed to have previously converted P20 million and other smaller amounts while Garma was still serving as PCSO general manager from 2019 to 2022.
The cash in dollar bills was allegedly sent to Garma’s former husband, Police Colonel Roland Vilela, who was then assigned as a police attaché at the Philippine consulate general in Los Angeles, California.
The Philippine National Police (PNP), meanwhile, was mum on the revelations of an anti-narcotics officer that Garma and Leonardo were behind the murder of Barayuga.
PNP spokesperson Col. Jean Fajardo did not reply when asked about Mendoza’s linking the two to Barayuga’s murder.
She also did not comment when asked about the PNP’s next course of action on the allegations of Mendoza, a member of the PNP Drug Enforcement Group.
Barayuga’s killing was condemned by his classmates at PMA Class 1983, saying he had never been involved in illegal activities, particularly illegal drugs.
In a Facebook post, Barayuga’s niece Mikee Nazal expressed their family’s outrage over reports linking Barayuga to illegal drugs.
“We did not know how it unfolded exactly. We relied on breaking news and updates and phone calls in the first hours. Later on we would learn from the autopsy report, CCTV footage and the police that it was professionally done and... well planned. We had more questions than answers. And still, more questions,” Nazal said.
“The NBI later stated that Tito was cooperating as a witness to investigations of corruption in the PCSO. It’s not difficult to connect the dots,” she said.
“A proper look at his track record, career, lifestyle and a collection of accounts from those who knew him and worked with him from all walks of life, would echo the same. He had a good work ethic and brought criminals to justice,” she said. “According to one eulogy, he chose ‘Public Servant’ over any other work title.”
His friends, she said, attested to Barayuga’s non-confrontational demeanor. “He would rather leave the room than let a debate escalate,” she said.
Nazal has hit “hurtful inaccuracy” in the news claiming that Barayuga’s name is on the narco-list.
“If the list exists then it is false. We, his family, find such a slander so incredulous, it only adds insult to injury,” she said.
Then National Capital Region Police Office chief Police Maj. Gen. Debold Sinas had claimed that Barayuga was on Duterte’s “narcolist.” — Emmanuel Tupas, Jennifer Rendon
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