Cop regrets following PNPA senior’s order to kill PCSO’s Barayuga

Police Lt. Col. Santie Mendoza (left) and Batangas 2nd District Rep. Gerville Luistro. SCREENSHOT FROM HOUSE QUAD-COMM LIVE STREAM

MANILA, Philippines — An active police official expressed regrets over following the orders of his upperclassman at the Philippine National Police Academy (PNPA) to kill former Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) board secretary Wesley Barayuga, saying that they killed an innocent man.

At the seventh hearing of the House of Representatives quad-committee on Friday, Batangas 2nd District Rep. Gerville Luistro asked Police Lt. Col. Santie Mendoza why he was crying and shaking while reading his sworn statement.

Mendoza implicated two former police colonels, National Police Commission (Napolcom) Commissioner Edilberto Leonardo and former PCSO general manager Royina Garma, in the killing of Barayuga in July 2020.

“Col. Mendoza, habang nagsasalaysay po kayo kanina, napansin ko umiiyak kayo at nanginginig ang katawan niyo (while you were recounting your story earlier, I noticed you were crying and trembling). Why such a demeanor during the time that you were reading your opening statement?” Luistro asked.

“Your Honor, hindi ko maiwasan na maiyak kasi tinuring ko silang mga upperclass tapos ang taas ng tingin ko sa kanila, eh binigyan ako ng trabaho na masakit sa dibdib eh,” Mendoza replied.

(I couldn’t help but cry because I considered them my upperclassmen and held them in high regard. Yet, they gave me a job that was heartbreaking.)

“Ano po ‘yong masakit sa dibdib (What was heartbreaking), Col. Mendoza?” Luistro asked again.

“Binigyan po ako ng trabaho ng mga upperclass ko na ikakasira ng buhay ko (My upperclassmen gave me a job that would ruin my life),” Mendoza said.

When Luistro clarified why Mendoza thinks his life would be ruined, the police official said it is because they killed someone innocent, referring to Barayuga.

“And why do you believe na ang trabahong ito ay ikakasira ngayon ng buhay mo (that this job will ruin your life)?” Luistro asked.

“Eh kasi po pumatay kami ng inosente eh (Because we killed an innocent person),” Mendoza said.

“Pumatay kayo ng inosente?  And can you please state for the record sino ‘yong inosenteng tao na pinatay mo, pinatay niyo?” Luistro asked again.

(You killed an innocent person? Please state for the record who that innocent person is that you killed.)

“Si Sir Wesley Barayuga po,” Mendoza answered.

In his sworn affidavit, Mendoza said that it was Leonardo who contacted him about operating a high-value drug target in the person of Barayuga.  When Mendoza said he would think about the operation, Leonardo supposedly told him that this operation would bode well for the police officer’s career.

According to Mendoza, Leonardo sent him a synopsis that would show how Barayuga was supposedly involved in the illegal drug trade.  Mendoza then said that he would conduct his own study, but Leonardo supposedly said that the hit already had Garma’s blessing.

Mendoza said that he then asked a fellow police officer, Nelson Mariano, to help him.

When they were about to carry out the attack, Mendoza said that they were informed by Leonardo that Barayuga was inside the PCSO office in Mandaluyong, and Garma sent a photo of the late board secretary.

“Noong Hulyo 30, 2020, muling tumawag si Colonel Leonardo at ipinaalam sa akin na ang target na si Wesley Barayuga ay nasa PCSO at maaari na naming isagawa ang operasyon. Ipinadala niya sa akin ang larawan ni Wesley Barayuga habang ito ay nasa conference meeting sa loob ng PCSO. Sinabi ni Colonel Leonardo na ang larawan ni Wesley Barayuga ay kinuha at ipinadala sa kanya ni Ma’am Garma,” he said.

(On July 30, 2020, Colonel Leonardo called me again and informed me that the target, Wesley Barayuga, was at the PCSO and that we could proceed with the operation. He sent me a photo of Barayuga during a conference meeting inside the PCSO. Colonel Leonardo said that the photo was taken and sent to him by Ma’am Garma.)

“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. Sinabi niya na maaari na naming tirahin si Wesley Barayuga pagkatapos niyang lumabas sa gusali. Ipinasa ko ang lahat ng impormasyong ito kay Nelson Mariano,” he added.

(Colonel Leonardo also said that we wouldn’t have difficulty executing the operation because Ma’am Garma had issued a service vehicle for Barayuga to use. He provided me with the description and plate number of the vehicle. He mentioned that we could take out Barayuga after he exited the building. I passed all this information on to Nelson Mariano.)

Mendoza said that Garma then coursed through Leonardo a payment of P300,000 for the hit.

Barayuga, a lawyer and a retired police general, was shot dead in July 2020, while he was on his way home from the PCSO headquarters in Mandaluyong City.

READ: PCSO board secretary shot dead in Mandaluyong City

In an interview with the Inquirer after the shooting, Mandaluyong City Police chief Col Hector Grijaldo, Jr. said Board Secretary Wesley Barayuga, a lawyer and a retired general, was gunned down by an unidentified assailant on a motorcycle around 3:30 p.m. at the corner of Calbayog and Malinaw Streets in Brgy. Highway Hills.

Barayuga suffered injuries in the head – near the neck, and one under the armpit, Grijaldo said, adding that one of the assailants who trailed the victim’s white pick-up government vehicle shot him from the passenger’s seat.

The police said back then that they were looking into an old grudge and Barayuga’s work as a board secretary as possible motives.