(Manila) – Philippine authorities should fully investigate and appropriately prosecute new revelations of extrajudicial killings involving former and current officials during the previous administration of Rodrigo Duterte, Human Rights Watch said today.
Since August 2024, the Philippine House of Representatives have held joint hearings that have examined extrajudicial killings in the “war on drugs” and whether money from drugs and illegal gambling were used by the Duterte administration to finance killings by the police. Witnesses to the hearings have testified to killings allegedly ordered by government officials, including at least four murders by the former head of the country’s lottery office and a current commissioner of the National Police Commission.
“The revelations of the Philippine congressional hearings on extrajudicial killings are downright horrifying,” said Bryony Lau, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “Philippine prosecutors should investigate the allegations and file appropriate charges against those responsible no matter their former or current position or rank.”
In a hearing on September 27, a witness alleged that Royina Garma, a former colonel in the Philippine National Police and CEO of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office, which runs the country’s lotterydirectly under the Office of the President, had ordered the murder of Wesley Barayuga, the charity’s board secretary. Barayuga had been slated to testify about anomalies in the lottery office allegedly committed by Garma.
Police Lt. Col. Santie Mendoza, an anti-narcotics officer, testified that a superior in the police, Col. Edilberto Leonardo, ordered him in 2019 to plan and execute the plot against Barayuga, claiming that Barayuga was involved in illegal drugs. Mendoza alleged that Leonardo was carrying out an order from Garma. At that time, “drug war” killings by the police numbered in the thousands, with most victims accused of involvement in illegal drugs.
Mendoza claimed that he had no choice and so arranged for an associate who in turn hired the gunman who carried out the murder in July 2020. Mendoza testified that Garma had provided the vehicle Barayuga used and then relayed to Leonardo the details about the truck, which Leonardo then passed onto Mendoza and then the gunman.
Garma and Leonardo denied the allegations during the hearing.
Garma is a known close associate of Duterte from the time that he served as mayor of Davao City. She was a commander of police units there, and both she and Leonardo were implicated in the so-called Davao death squad, which was linked to many illegal killings of suspected criminals by the local police. She was later appointed police chief of the central Philippine city of Cebu despite opposition by the mayor. As Cebu police chief, Garma enforced Duterte’s “war on drugs” campaign that has killed hundreds in that city since 2016. Human Rights Watch documented some of the killings there while Garma was police chief.
In 2019, Garma retired early from the Phlippine National Police to become general manager and chief executive officer of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office. It was reported during the hearing that while Barayuga served as the office’s board secretary, he allegedly learned about corruption allegations against Garma. Congressman Johnny Pimentel said at the hearing that Barayuga was about to expose Garma’s alleged corruption before he was killed.
A number of allegations of wrongdoing were made against Garma during the hearings. In August, two witnesses testified that Garma had ordered the 2016 murder of three alleged Chinese druglords detained at the Davao Prison and Penal Farm. Garma allegedly tasked her boyfriend, Senior Police Officer 4 Arthur Narsolis, to carry out the murders. Bureau of Corrections Senior Superintendent Gerardo Padilla testified that then-President Duterte called to “congratulate” him on the killings of the three men, which Duterte referred to as “a bloodbath.”
The hearings also revealed the Duterte administration’s misuse of so-called drug watch lists to eliminate political enemies, among them local officials. Jed Mabilog, former mayor of Iloilo City, testified in September that he was forced to flee the country in August 2017 and sought asylum in the United States for fear of his life after Duterte included him on the list. In the case of Barayuga, his name was added to the “drug watch list” after the murder to justify the killing, Mendoza said at the hearings last week.
Accountability for “drug war” killings has been insignificant: only four cases out of thousands have resulted in court convictions. The current administration of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has not taken significant measures to address the lack of prosecutions. The International Criminal Court is investigating extrajudicial killings that occurred when the Philippines was still a party to the Rome Statute until March 2019 when a withdrawal ordered by Duterte took effect.
“The Marcos administration needs to address the congressional testimony implicating senior officials in the police and other government agencies,” Lau said. “The Philippines’ international partners need to impress upon President Marcos that bringing past abuses to light won’t end them unless there is genuine justice.”
