The family of the slain, Atty. Wesley Barayuga, thanks the House Quad Committee for its dedication in investigating the extrajudicial killings during the Duterte administration.

Four years ago, Barayuga, a retired general and board secretary of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO), was shot by an unknown assailant on a motorcycle in Mandaluyong City. He was one of the victims during the Duterte administration’s drug war.

Testifying in the House Quad Comm’s probe into the Duterte drug war killings, Police Lieutenant Colonel Santie Fuentes Mendoza named former PCSO General Manager (and retired Police Colonel) Royina Garma and Police Colonel Edilberto Leonardo, as the persons behind Barayuga’s killing.

Mendoza narrated that in 2019, Leonardo approached him about a project involving a high-ranking government official allegedly linked to illegal drug activities. When Mendoza wanted to conduct his own independent investigation, Leonardo informed him that it was unnecessary, as the order came directly from Garma, who had personal knowledge of Barayuga’s involvement in these activities. Forced to follow orders from these high-ranking officials and fear of career repercussions due to their close ties with the Duterte administration, Mendoza felt he had no choice but to carry out the kill orders.

It was revealed during the hearing that the motive behind Barayuga’s killing was his intention to expose Garma for corruption within the PCSO. At the time Barayuga was ordered to be killed, the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) was investigating the operations of the small-town lottery (STL) managed by the PCSO. Barayuga was preparing documents and was ready to testify against Garma regarding the ongoing corruption and illegal practices within the agency.

However, it was made to appear that Barayuga’s killing was related to his alleged involvement with illegal drugs. To cover this up, his name was included in a drug list in August 2020, a month after his death. Before this, he had never been included in any drug list, as confirmed by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA).

The disturbing truth is that Garma ordered the hit on Barayuga to conceal her corruption within the PCSO. To hide her involvement, she made it appear that his death was drug-related. The inclusion of a name on the drug list was a favored tactic of the Duterte administration, which they used to justify the deaths of alleged drug suspects in police operations and drive-by shootings. This strategy resulted in thousands of extrajudicial killings during Duterte’s presidency.

The environment and culture created by Duterte during his administration undermined the rule of law. They eroded public trust in government institutions, prompting the International Criminal Court to intervene and begin an investigation into the widespread killings during Duterte’s anti-illegal drug campaign.

The war on drugs served not only as a convenient excuse to eliminate rival drug lords and monopolize the drug trade but was also a tool for Duterte’s allies to pursue personal vendettas, as exemplified by Garma’s actions. While Duterte himself did not order the killings, his policies created a culture of impunity that became the norm in the Philippines. Duterte empowered crooked police officers and government officials to eliminate their enemies without regard for the rule of law.

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