Whistle-blower cop relieved amid new PCSO slay probe

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine National Police official who implicated former Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office general manager Royina Garma in the murder of PCSO board secretary and retired police general Wesley Barayuga was relieved from his post and placed under restrictive custody to ensure his security, the PNP announced yesterday.

Lt. Col. Santie Mendoza was relieved from his post at the PNP Drug Enforcement Group (PDEG) last Friday and was reassigned to the personnel holding and accounting unit in Camp Crame to ensure his availability in the probe being conducted by the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG).

“(He is) under restrictive custody to ensure his appearance in the investigation and, of course, to secure him,” said PNP public information officer Col. Jean Fajardo at yesterday’s news briefing.

Mendoza delivered a bombshell testimony during a House quad committee hearing on Sept. 27 when he tagged Garma and National Police Commission (Napolcom) Commissioner Edilberto Leonardo as the people who orchestrated Barayuga’s murder in Mandaluyong City in July 2020.

Rep. Robert Ace Barbers, presiding officer of the quad committee of the House of Representatives, revealed that the Department of Justice is assessing whether Mendoza can be tapped as a state witness in Barayuga’s murder.

“He (Mendoza) seems eligible for the government’s Witness Protection Program. But it is the DOJ that is making this evaluation because there is a current prohibition insofar as government personnel are concerned,” Barbers told dzRH.

“As you can see, the testimony of Mendoza is very revealing, especially because this is an admission against self-interest. That is why we see him as a very credible witness, in light of his admission that his conscience has been bothering him for a long time,” he added.

Aside from Mendoza, Fajardo said Col. Hector Grijaldo was also sacked from his PDEG post and placed on floating status. Grijaldo, Mandaluyong police chief at the time of Barayuga’s murder, was the first official who probed the incident.

The PNP will also secure Nelson Mariano, a former police corporal whom Mendoza said he contacted for recruiting the alleged assassins for the hit job on Barayuga, Fajardo added.

She noted that PNP chief Gen. Rommel Francisco Marbil on Sunday ordered a comprehensive reinvestigation of Barayuga’s murder in response to Mendoza’s testimony as he wanted all personalities who took part in the retired police general’s killing brought to justice.

Fajardo said the PNP would not hesitate to file charges against people who took part in Barayuga’s murder, even if they are officials higher in rank than Garma and Leonardo.

Mendoza testified before the quad comm last week and implicated former police colonel Garma, said to be close to former president Rodrigo Duterte, as the brains behind the 2020 Barayuga murder.

He also tagged Leonardo, whom Duterte had appointed as Napolcom chief, as the one who instructed him in February 2020 to get rid of Barayuga, who turned out to have had a spat with Garma.

According to Mendoza, Garma’s order to kill Barayuga was relayed through Leonardo.

This allegedly came in a call for a “special operation” against Barayuga, tagged as a “high-value” target in Duterte’s drug war.

Mendoza also disclosed that Garma gave Leonardo P300,000 for the job, which he in turn gave to the alleged gunman – a certain “Toks” – and police corporal Nelson Mariano.

He said he also received P40,000 as “part of payment” for recruiting the alleged assassins.

‘Davao template’

Meanwhile, Garma and Leonardo confirmed to the House quad committee last week the June 2016 meeting about the “Davao Template” on extrajudicial killings prior to Duterte’s assumption of office in Malacañang.

The two trusted aides, however, downplayed the meeting and merely described it as a “courtesy call” on Duterte. They also gave conflicting accounts.

While Garma, a member of Philippine National Police Academy Class 1997, admitted that the “Davao Template” was mentioned, Leonardo (of PNPA Class 1996) said he did not recall any discussion on the controversial strategy that triggered complaints of thousands of alleged human rights violations.

The duo were among the Davao police officers closest to Duterte, aside from then Davao City police chief Ronald dela Rosa, whom Duterte appointed as his first PNP chief and tasked with implementing “Oplan Tokhang,” the war on drugs widely criticized for human rights violations.

Garma confirmed to Rep. Joseph Stephen Paduano (Abang Lingkod party-list) – chairman of the House committee on public accounts – that the so-called Davao Template was discussed, but not lengthily and “not in-depth” as this was just mentioned “in passing.”

Leonardo was more evasive, saying he “couldn’t recall” if there was such a name. But he nevertheless confirmed such a meeting where he recalled seeing former special assistant to the president Bong Go but could not confirm Dela Rosa’s presence.

For her part, Garma said Go and Dela Rosa, both now senators, were not in the room where the PNPA Class of 1997 had gathered. This is contrary to Leonardo’s statement that he saw Go during the meeting.

Go welcomes move

Go, in a statement, welcomed the PNP move to reopen the investigation on Barayuga’s murder.

“It is but right to give his (Barayuga) family justice. In fact, it should have been given years ago. Still, it is good to reinvestigate the case now so those responsible could be prosecuted,” Go said.

“I want to make it clear that I do not know anything about the motive of the killing or on any information that former PCSO chair Anselmo Simeon Pinili has about this. I was already a senator then and I was focused on the pandemic as chair of the Senate committee on health,” he added.

Go said he takes exception to news reports that he knew of the motive yet did nothing.

“Please get your facts straight. Let us stay with the truth and with what is right. You know me. I would rather work and serve the people,” Go stressed.

He added that he did not meddle in the work of the police. — Delon Porcalla