Arrest warrant issued vs Royina Garma, cohorts over 2020 Barayuga killing
An arrest warrant has been issued against former Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office General Manager Royina Garma and four others for the murder of PCSO board secretary Wesley Barayuga in 2020.
The Philippine National Police confirmed in a press briefing that the Mandaluyong Regional Trial Court Branch 279 ordered the arrest of Garma, National Police Commission Commissioner Edilberto Leonardo, Police Lieutenant Santie Fuentes Mendoza, and ex-police officers Nelson Enriquez Mariano and Jeremy Zapata Causapin on Sept. 13.
In the warrant, the individuals are being charged with the crimes of murder and frustrated murder, which are non-bailable.
Barayuga was killed on July 30, 2020 by an unidentified gunman while he was riding a car along Calbayog Street in Barangay Highway Hills, Mandaluyong City.
Barayuga was a former cop who held the rank of police brigadier general. He was accused of being on a "narcolist" of elected officials allegedly involved in the drug trade.
His killing was regarded as a cold case until Mendoza claimed that Leonardo and Garma had masterminded the crime during a House of Representatives hearing in September 2024.
According to Mendoza, Barayuga had been identified as a high-value target over his alleged ties to illegal drug operations. The order to kill Barayuga came from Garma with a P300,000 reward money.
The arrest warrant comes as Garma, who is a retired police officer, recently returned to the Philippines after nearly 10 months in the United States. She left the country in November 2024 after she confirmed the existence of the Davao Death Squad.
Garma and her co-accused have yet to respond to the arrest warrant.
