THE Regional Trial Court (RTC) of Mandaluyong City has ordered the cancellation of the passports of former Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) general manager Royina Garma and four others who were charged with murder and frustrated murder charges in connection with the killing of PCSO board secretary Wesley Barayuga in 2020.
The order issued by the Mandaluyong RTC also covers the passports of Garma’s co-accused namely former National Police Commission (NAPOLCOM) commissioner Edilberto Leonardo, and police officials Jeremy Causapin, Santie Mendoza, and Nelson Mariano.
The court also issued a hold departure order (HDO) against all the accused.
The cancellation of the passports and the issuance of an HDO against the accused came following the court’s issuance of arrest warrants against them.
The trial court agreed with state prosecutors that ‘there exists serious risk that they will flee from the jurisdiction of the court to evade trial and punishment.’
‘Considering that all the accused, except Santie Mendoza y Fuentes and Nelson Mariano y Enriquez, are fugitives from justice having not appeared in court, not surrendered nor submitted to the jurisdiction of the court, and the nature of the charges against all the accused, the urgent ex-parte motion for issuance of hold departure order and motion to cancel passport are granted,’ the trial court said.
Mendoza and Mariano, who surrendered to authorities after arrest warrants were issued against them, are currently detained at the National Bureau of Investigation-Security Management Division.
The trial court allowed them to remain at the NBI custody due to ‘serious, imminent, and credible’ threats to their safety.
The court also proceeded with their scheduled arraignment yesterday where the two pleaded pleas of ‘not guilty.’
However, the court denied the motion of Garma and Aguinaldo to suspend proceedings pending the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) action on their motion for reconsideration.
It held that the filing of motion for reconsideration before the DOJ was not a valid ground to suspend court proceedings.
Meanwhile, the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) has asked the International Police to issue a red notice against Garma who left the country last September 7 for Malaysia a day after returning to the country from Los Angeles, California, last September 6 following the denial of her application for political asylum.
Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla earlier disclosed that Garma has agreed to testify for the prosecution in connection with the crimes against humanity filed in the International Criminal Court against former President Rodrigo Duterte for his bloody anti-illegal drug war.
Interpol notices are international requests for cooperation or alerts allowing police in member countries to share critical crime-related information.
A red notice is a request to law enforcement worldwide to locate and provisionally arrest a person pending extradition, surrender, or similar legal action.
Barayuga was gunned down by a motorcycle-riding man shortly while on his way home from the PCSO central office in Mandaluyong City on July 30, 2020.
His driver survived the incident, thus filing of frustrated murder complaint against the respondents.