By Christopher Lloyd Caliwan
MANILA – The Philippine National Police (PNP) on Tuesday has formed tracker teams to run after the remaining accused in the killing of retired police general and Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) board secretary Wesley Barayuga following a Mandaluyong City court’s issuance of an arrest warrant.
The Mandaluyong Regional Trial Court Branch 279 issued a warrant of arrest for murder and frustrated murder, dated Sept. 13, 2025, against former PCSO general manager and retired police colonel Royina Garma, Lt. Col. Santie Mendoza, retired police colonel and former National Police Commission commissioner Edilberto Leonardo, and dismissed police officers Nelson Enriquez Mariano and Jeremy Causapin (alias Toks).
All accused are still at large except
Mendoza, who is at the Personnel Holding and Accounting Unit at Camp Crame in Quezon City.
“The PNP respects and upholds the order of the Mandaluyong court. We are duty-bound to implement lawful orders issued by our courts, and the PNP is already preparing to carry out the necessary procedures to serve the warrant of arrest,” PNP acting chief Lt. Gen. Jose Melencio Nartatez said in a statement.
The dedicated tracker teams will be led by the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) which has been directed to coordinate with regional police offices and intelligence divisions to monitor movements of the suspects and effect immediate arrests once operational conditions allow.
Nartatez said the PNP will uphold due process while ensuring swift execution of the warrant.
“Other units were instructed to assist [the CIDG]. The PNP is committed to swift and decisive action, with due consideration for the rights of all parties involved. Our priority is to bring the suspects before the proper court without delay,” he added.
In a separate interview, CIDG Regional Field Unit-National Capital Regi chief, Lt. Col. John Guiagui, revealed they already have information on the whereabouts of the accused.
He said despite with the formation of tracker teams, it will be a consolidated effort from the PNP units.
“We will do a manhunt operation regardless of status, regardless of position. Hindi natin tinitingnan dito kung naging opisyal ba siya o former government official (It doesn’t matter if the person was a former government official). As long as there is warrant, we will enforce it,” Guiagui told reporters.
Early this month, Garma flew to Malaysia as a tourist shortly after arriving in the Philippines.
She was deported from the United States, which turned down her request for political asylum.
Garma has agreed to be a witness for the prosecution against former president Rodrigo R. Duterte before the International Criminal Court.
In February, the National Bureau of Investigation filed murder and frustrated murder charges against Garma for her alleged involvement in the 2020 death of Barayuga.
It was Mendoza who tagged Garma and Leonardo as the brains behind the killing during a congressional inquiry related to the drug war of Duterte. (PNA)
