MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Justice (DOJ) is looking into admitting in its witness protection program (WPP) Police Lt. Col. Santie Mendoza, according to the chair of the House super panel investigating the links of the Pogo (Philippine offshore gaming operators) industry into illegal drugs and other criminal activities.

Mendoza, in an earlier hearing by the House quad committee, had tagged two former ranking police officials in the 2020 killing of retired general and Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) board secretary Wesley Barayuga.

Quad committee chair Robert Ace Barbers on Monday said Mendoza could be eligible for witness protection as an exception to the ban on public officials being admitted into the program.

Apart from uncovering details that had prompted the reopening of the investigation into Barayuga’s killing, the super panel had also established that former President Rodrigo Duterte had gathered alumni of the Philippine National Police Academy (PNPA) to discuss a so-called “Davao template,” days before assuming the presidency and launching his drug war.

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The committee—made up of the House panels on dangerous drugs, public order and safety, human rights, and public accounts—is also looking into the link of Pogos with the extrajudicial killings during Duterte’s drug war.

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In an interview with dzRH on Monday, Barbers said the DOJ was studying Mendoza’s...

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