The world turns

I'm no longer surprised when I hear about police officers killing or having people killed. And this news is no different. There is an ongoing investigation in the Senate on Royina Garma, a former Davao police officer, former PNP chief in Cebu, and former general manager of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) due to her alleged involvement in the killing of three Chinese drug traffickers in the Davao Penal Colony in August 2016. Rodrigo Duterte was the president of the Philippines at that time, just saying. Everyone knows his bloody campaign throughout the country when he was president.

During the Senate hearing, it was revealed seven of Garma's relatives, including her daughter who has mental health issues, were hired into the PCSO. Seven relatives. Unbelievable. It was pointed out her daughter lacked the qualifications to be a confidential agent of the PCSO. Garma's defense was that her daughter was only diagnosed as bipolar when she left PCSO. That doesn’t mean she wasn't bipolar when she was still in PCSO. It was only diagnosed after she had left.

But the most serious accusation against Garma is that she was behind the killing of PCSO board secretary Wesley Barayuga in July 2020. Police Lieutenant Colonel Santi Mendoza testified at the Senate saying Garma and Napolcom Commissioner Edilberto Leonardo were the masterminds behind the killing of Barayuga. Leonardo allegedly ordered Mendoza to launch an operation against Barayuga because he was allegedly involved in illegal drugs. That was the trend during the Duterte administration, wasn't it? All it took for a person to be executed was to implicate him in illegal drugs.

According to Mendoza, he wanted to conduct a study on Barayuga because he is a government official. Barayuga was also a lawyer and former general. However, Leonardo told him that if the operation were successful, it would do wonders for his career as a police officer. Leonardo also said the operation had Garma’s blessing. Mendoza then contacted Nelson Mariano who he knew had a network for this kind of operation. Barayuga was killed on his way home from PCSO. Remember, all the people involved in this crime are police officers or former police officers.

The accusations against Garma and Leonardo are serious. But Mendoza who led the operation to kill Barayuga is not without fault. The world turns. Back then, these people were powerful and thought they could do anything, including having people killed. Now that there is a new president, their sins are coming out. The supposed reason why Barayuga was killed was because he was going to expose the anomalies in the PCSO under Garma. The PCSO lost billions under Garma. Garma also managed to put ?2 million in a party-list she set up. Where did Garma learn to be this kind of police officer? In Davao? I hope all the investigations by the Senate on Garma, Leonardo, Mendoza, and others will lead to cases filed and convictions. They must be held accountable for their crimes. There is nothing worse than a person sworn to enforce the law and provide protection and service to the public who is involved in serious crimes such as premeditated murder.