MANILA – Former Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) general manager Royina Garma and four others are now wanted for murder after a Mandaluyong court ordered their arrest in connection with the 2020 killing of PCSO board secretary Wesley Barayuga.
The Mandaluyong Regional Trial Court Branch 279, in an order dated September 13, 2025, issued arrest warrants with no bail recommended against Garma, resigned National Police Commission (Napolcom) commissioner Edilberto Leonardo, Police Lt. Santie Fuentes Mendoza, dismissed policeman Nelson Enriquez Mariano, and resigned police personnel Jeremy Zapata Causapin.
The charges stem from the July 30, 2020 attack that killed Barayuga and left his driver wounded.
Philippine National Police (PNP) spokesperson Brig. Gen. Randulf Tuaño confirmed yesterday that the police have received the court order and that acting PNP chief Lt. Gen. Jose Melencio Nartatez has directed its swift enforcement.
“Ang marching orders ng ating chief PNP, ang sabi niya, justice for all. Meaning, ang kautusan niya po sa CIDG at sa lahat ng miyembro ng Philippine National Police: implement all warrants of arrest regardless of the case,” Tuaño said.
He added that Mendoza remains in “floating status” under the custody of the Directorate for Personnel and Records Management’s Personnel Holding and Accounting Unit.
Mendoza earlier implicated Garma and Leonardo as alleged masterminds in the killing during a congressional inquiry into former president Rodrigo Duterte’s drug war. He testified that Leonardo recruited him for a “special project” against a supposed high-value target, while Garma provided intelligence. Mendoza said Mariano and Causapin carried out the hit.
Garma returned to the country on September 6 after her asylum bid in the United States was denied. She later traveled to Malaysia to meet International Criminal Court (ICC) officials following her agreement to testify against Duterte, now detained in The Hague on crimes against humanity charges.
Tuaño said authorities are still tracking the current whereabouts of Garma and her co-accused./PN
