By Benjamin Pulta

MANILA – The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and the Philippine National Police (PNP) on Monday filed murder and frustrated murder charges before the Department of Justice (DOJ) against former Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) general manager Royina Garma and several other individuals over the July 2020 assassination of retired police general and PCSO board secretary Wesley Barayuga.
In a two-page referral letter to Prosecutor General Richard Anthony Fadullon, the NBI said “sufficient pieces of evidence were gathered to recommend murder and frustrated murder charges” against Garma, retired police colonel Edilberto Leonardo, and Jeremy Causapin alias “Toks.”
Also recommended for inclusion in the charges were Police Lt. Col. Santie Mendoza, former police officer Nelson Mariano, a certain alias “Lolo” and several John Does.
Progress in the case was reported in September, 2024 when Mendoza testified before the House Quad Committee (quadcom) about the ambush that killed Barayuga on July 30, 2020 near the PCSO main office in Mandaluyong City.
Mendoza has implicated Garma and Leonardo as masterminds in the fatal ambush.
The joint investigation was conducted by the NBI Organized and Transnational Crimes Division (OTCD) and the PNP Criminal Investigation and Detection Group in compliance with the DOJ Department Order No. 771 issued by Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla. (PNA)