Who can be charged for crime of the century?

With the explosive revelations coming out of the House of Representatives’ quad committee hearings, who can be charged and for what crimes, so far?

There were seven murders that have been either confessed or mentioned in the investigation. These are the murder of Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) board secretary Wesley Barayuga in 2020, the brutal killings of the three drug lords inside a Davao prison in 2016, and the assassination of Batangas Mayor Antonio Halili in 2018. There are also the undated killing of a Davao prison officer only identified as “Guinto,” and the killing of Leyte Mayor Rolando Espinosa Sr. in 2016.

Those who can be charged for the Barayuga murder are: (1) Police Lt. Col. Santie Mendoza; (2) former cop Nelson Mariano; (3) assassin (unnamed so far) (4) former PCSO manager Royina Garma, and; (5) retired Police Col. Edilberto Leonardo. Mendoza and Mariano can apply to become state witnesses, because there is “absolute necessity for [their] testimon[ies]” to convict Garma and Leonardo. Mendoza and Mariano still need to testify in court, and their testimonies subjected to cross examination, in order to convict Garma and Leonardo.

Those who can be charged for the murder of the three drug lords are: (1) Garma; (2) Leonardo; (3) Police Executive Master Sergeant Arthur Narsolis; (4) prison officer Gerardo Padilla, and (5) former president Rodrigo Duterte. The two inmates who confessed to executing the killings have been convicted. Padilla testified that the killings were cleared by Duterte as relayed by Narsolis, and that Duterte personally called to congratulate him after the killings. Padilla could potentially qualify as state witness, freed from criminal liability, in exchange for his testimony against Narsolis, Garma, Leonardo, and Duterte. Can either Narsolis, Garma, or Leonardo also apply as state witnesses? It will depend on whether there’s “absolute necessity” for any of their testimonies, and if they provide indispensable evidence against the “most guilty.”

In her surprise affidavit last Friday, Garma disclosed that Halili was assassinated by a team that included police officers. Garma said that she personally heard a certain Major Albotra boasting that he was part of the team that assassinated the mayor who was in Duterte’s drug war list. The sole testimony of Garma is not enough to obtain a conviction, but it may lead to further witnesses who will come out with more evidence.

Garma also disclosed that Padilla mentioned to her that certain prison officials in Davao were involved in the drug trade, one of whom was an officer named “Guinto” who was subsequently killed. No other details have been volunteered on this killing. On the other hand, Kerwin Espinosa concluded that former president Duterte was responsible for the killing of his father, Mayor Espinosa Sr., but he provided no evidence to back up his claim. It remains to be seen if more witnesses will also come out to identify the masterminds of these two killings, and to provide evidence for a new trial against police officers acquitted for the Espinosa killing.

Espinosa has also accused Sen. Ronaldo “Bato” dela Rosa of having committed multiple counts of grave coercion. With the threat that he or any of his family will be killed if he refused, Espinosa testified that Dela Rosa compelled him to: (1) admit to his being a drug lord; (2) point to former senator Leila de Lima as having links to the illegal drugs trade, and; (3) point to businessman Peter Lim as also involved in the drug trade. De Lima and Lim can separately charge Dela Rosa for the crime of incriminatory machinations for imputing to them the commission of crimes.

In her affidavit, Garma neither confirmed nor denied her involvement in the murders of Barayuga and the three drug lords. Garma, however, confessed to the following: Duterte asked her help in identifying a person capable of “replicating the ‘Davao Model’” on a national scale as mode of carrying out his drug war; Garma recommended Leonardo and the latter was subsequently appointed to implement the nationwide drug war, whereby police officers were rewarded for killings and only reimbursed for expenses for arrests, and; reports of deaths and requests for funds were regularly made through his aide and now Sen. Bong Go. Garma presented herself as having had no involvement in the drug war operations. It remains to be seen if her denial will trigger other witnesses to come out to volunteer contradictory or confirmatory testimonies.

Garma did not implicate Leonardo, Go, and Duterte to any specific killing. What she provided, however, was sworn testimony (and crucial leads) revealing that the three were involved in the thousands of drug war killings nationwide. Garma disclosed that the three orchestrated a nationwide killing of drug personalities as a governmental solution to the illegal drugs problem. Add to this Espinosa’s revelation on Dela Rosa, and the picture is getting complete on the identity of the individuals who “bear the greatest responsibility” for crime against humanity, the crime of the century committed against our godforsaken people.

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