PNP Internal Affairs probes officers linked to Barayuga slay case

BARAYUGA CASE Crime scene investigators secure the pickup of then Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office board secretary Wesley Barayuga where he was shot dead on Calbayog Street, Mandaluyong City. Photo taken on July 30, 2020. —RICHARD A. REYES

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine National Police (PNP) Internal Affairs Service (IAS) has started its probe into the officers and personnel linked to the case of slain retired general and Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) board secretary Wesley Barayuga.

According to IAS Inspector General Brigido Dulay, they will base their investigation on the testimony of Police Lt. Col. Santie Mendoza during the House of Representatives quad committee’s seventh hearing. Mendoza tagged former National Police Commission Commissioner Edilberto Leonardo and former PCSO General Manager Royina Garma in the killing of Barayuga.

READ: Barayuga slay case: PNP to evaluate procedure for compiling drug list

“Dun sa statement ni Santie Mendoza dun mag-uugat ang imbestigasyon namin lahat ng personalidad na mabanggit doon isasama namin, pero tandaan niyo na ‘di pa tapos sapagka’t ang sabi ng quad comm sa susunod na hearing ay maglalabas pa po sila ng ibang ebidensya,” Dulay told reporters in an interview on Thursday.

(Our investigation will be rooted in Santie Mendoza’s statement. We will include all the personalities mentioned there, but remember that it is still ongoing because the quad comm said in the next hearing that they will release other evidence.)

“Nagumpisa ang IAS sa imbestigasyon sa Barayuga case kasama dito syempre ‘yung nasasangkot, ‘yung confessed participant conspirator si Santie Mendoza, ‘yung iba pa nyang kasama na nasa active service pa,” he added.

(The IAS has started the investigation in the Barayuga case, including the confessed participant conspirator Santie Mendoza and his other companions who are still in active service.)

Dulay said they just received a copy of the documents gathered by the quad comm and added that Mendoza may face an administrative charge for a grave offense. If proven guilty, he will be dismissed from police service.

Earlier, PNP chief Gen. Rommel Marbil ordered the police force to reopen the murder case of Barayuga after Mendoza’s revelation that Leonardo and Garma asked him to carry out an operation against the retired general.

Aside from this, Marbil ordered to comprehensively review how a person is added to a drug watchlist, or a document containing names of individuals with drug-related offenses.

To give context, Mendoza revealed that Leonardo ordered him to eliminate Barayuga, who was allegedly included on a drug watchlist.

Marbil said they will probe how Barayuga’s name got included in such a list.

Based on previous reports, the retired general was shot dead in July 2020 on his way home from the PCSO headquarters in Mandaluyong City.

Police said an unidentified assailant gunned down the lawyer on a motorcycle at the corner of Calbayog and Malinaw Streets in Barangay Highway Hills.