CITY OF SAN FERNANDO — Knees of “ninja” policemen in this province are probably shaking. From eased conscience provided by immunity since 2013 and the comforts bought from alleged P50-million bribe, they are about to face anew the sins of their past.
Some of these cops have reportedly remained active in this province and have apparently passed on the so-called “ninja” culture to younger colleagues now also in the habit of pilfering confiscated illegal drugs for their own profit while arrogantly enjoying impunity even in the corridors of Pampanga’s halls of justice.
This, even as Pres. Duterte’s trust and approval ratings went down in the third quarter, according to the latest Pulse Asia survey, amid issues in the country’s national penitentiary and the “ninja” police case swept media.
Duterte received a trust rating of 74 percent, an 11-point decrease from last quarter’s 85 percent, after dropping in all areas except in his home region of Mindanao.
Justice Sec. Menardo Guevarra said last Sunday the Department of Justice (DOJ) will reopen the case of the alleged recycling of drugs involving a team of Pampanga policemen.
This is on top of the investigation now being done by the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) on the pilfering of confiscated illegal drugs and the alleged coddling of involved officers by Philippine National Police chief Gen. Oscar Albayalde when he was the Pampanga police director in 2013.
From Moscow during Pres. Dueterte’s state visit to Russia, Interior Secretary Eduardo Año said the DILG, which oversees the PNP, began the investigation without waiting for the Senate to complete its inquiry into the “ninja cop” racket.
“When we return to the Philippines, I will sit down with [National Police Commission] lawyers and the DILG legal service and check the status of the review of the case,” Año said.
A Senate inquiry has opened a can of worms for Philippine National Police (PNP) chief General Albayalde who allegedly intervened in the dismissal of Pampanga “ninja cops” who were ordered to be dismissed.
Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) chief Director General Aaron Aquino said before a joint Senate investigation that back in late 2016 when they were regional directors – Aquino for Central Luzon and Albayalde for Metro Manila – Albayalde made a phone call to Aquino about the case of alleged “ninja cops” set to be dismissed over a questionable 2013 anti-drug operation.
“He (Albayalde) told me, Sir, for the meantime, maybe you can have that reviewed, because I want to know what will happen to the result of that investigation,” Aquino recalled.
Aquino said he asked why Albayalde, a former Pampanga provincial chief, was doing this and that Albayalde replied” Because, Sir, those are my people.”
Also at the Senate, Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong, who was PNP Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) at the time of the 2013 incident, also virtually implicated Albayalde in the case. He also revealed threats to his safety after he testified at the Senate.
He claimed that Albayalde intervened in the dismissal of 13 policemen who conducted a buy-bust operation in Mexico, Pampanga, on Nov. 29, 2013.
More than 200 kilos of “shabu” were confiscated in the operation but the raiding team, led by Police Maj. Rodney Baloyo, officially declared a haul of only 38 kilos. Some 160 kilos of shabu with a street value of P648 million went missing, while a P50-million bribe was supposedly given to the police group by Chinese national Johnson Lee, a suspected drug lord, who was later set free while another Chinese was put in his place.
Guevarra said the DOJ will reopen the drug case against Pampanga policemen involved in the alleged recycling of confiscated drugs, even if the case was dismissed in 2017.
“In the light of new evidence unfolding, and in the interest of justice, the DOJ will reopen the case and will create a new panel of state prosecutors to conduct the reinvestigation,” Guevarra said.
Guevarra added: “Both sides will be given ample opportunity to present additional evidence.” State prosecutors tasked with re-opening the illegal drug case against 13 alleged “ninja cops” have 30 days to resolve it.
Guevarra issued Department Order 528 designating a three-member panel of prosecutors to reinvestigate the police’s Criminal Investigation and Detection Group’s complaint against Police Maj. Rodney Baloyo and his men.
“The special panel of prosecutors is hereby directed to immediately conduct the necessary hearings and resolve the case within 30 days,” Guevarra ordered.
