MANILA, Philippines — A policeman said former Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office general manager Royina Garma ordered the killing of a PCSO board secretary in 2020 due to his alleged drug links.
In his bombshell testimony during the hearing conducted by the Quad Committee at the House of Representatives on Friday, Lt. Col. Santie Mendoza of the Police Drug Enforcement Group alleged that Garma was behind the killing of PCSO Board Secretary Wesley Barayuga, a former police general, upon the order of Police Col. Edilberto Leonardo.
Mendoza, in his affidavit which he read at the panel, claimed that Leonardo contacted him about a "special project" involving the "elimination" of Barayuga.
Mendoza said that while he hesitated in following the plan, he was pressured into agreeing to do it as it was an order coming from Garma herself, a former police official.
"Sinabi ni Colonel Leonardo na ang pagsasagawa ng proyektong ito ang magdidikta sa direksyon ng aking karera bilang isang pulis (Col. Leonardo said that this project will dictate the direction of my career as a policeman)," Mendoza said.
The decision to kill Barayuga was delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic lockdowns, which restricted movement, but the plan resumed in June 2020, stressing the urgency of the mission.
Former Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office general manager Royina Garma. PHOTO BY JOHN ORVEN VERDOTEMendoza said he enlisted police informant Nelson Mariano to ask some people who could undertake Barayuga's killing and hired a hitman named "Loloy."
He said that it was Garma who provided a photograph of Barayuga during a PCSO meeting to aid the hitman in identifying the target.
"Sinabi rin ni Colonel Leonardo na hindi na kami mahihirapan sa pagsasagawa ng operasyon dahil nag-isyu na si Ma'am Garma ng isang service vehicle para gamitin ni Wesley Barayuga, at binigay sa akin ang deskripsyon at plate number ng sasakyan (Col. Leonardo told us that it will not be difficult to do the operation as Garma provided a service vehicle that Wesley Barayuga will use, and he gave me the description and the plate number of the vehicle)," Mendoza said.
Barayuga was killed in July 2020.
Garma denied the allegations made by Mendoza.
"Mr. Chair, hindi ko po alam yung sinasabi nya (I don't know what he is saying), I cannot speculate because the statement of Mendoza will lead to a crime, and I do not want to make a statement whether it is right or wrong," Garma said.
Garma said that she was shocked by Mendoza's allegations.
Garma was PCSO chairman from 2019 to 2022.
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