Metro Manila (AdChoiceTV News, October 7) — The 13 Pampanga policemen involved in a shady drug raid could be removed from service without notice, Philippine National Police chief Oscar Albayalde said Monday.
Six years after he reportedly blocked the sacking of these so-called "ninja cops," Albayalde announced that they could now be facing summary dismissal.
"I have directed the Directorate for Investigation and Detective Management to take the lead in reviewing the administrative cases involving the so-called ninja cops in coordination with the PNP-Internal Affairs Service to initiate possible summary dismissal proceedings against these errant personnel," the top cop said in a media briefing.
The PNP's Directorate for Personnel and Records Management has also been tasked to keep the cops involved available to face the internal probe. This is alongside a decision of the Department of Justice (DOJ) to reopen its investigation into the 2013 case, where these cops reportedly recycled drugs seized from a buy-bust operation in Mexico, Pampanga.
Albayalde has also instructed all PNP units to cooperate with the DOJ inquiry, and called upon those implicating him in the illicit scheme to show proof that he interfered in previous investigations. The group supposedly kept 160 kilograms of shabu for themselves and got ₱50 million and new sports utility vehicles in exchange for the freedom of Chinese drug trafficker Johnson Lee, who was allegedly arrested in the raid.
Albayalde, formerly the head of the Pampanga police, has admitted that he called then-Central Luzon regional police director Aaron Aquino in 2016, but only to ask about the status of his subordinates' case. However, Aquino said in a Senate hearing that Albayalde asked him to review the dismissal order for the 13 policemen.
The 13 Pampanga cops were found guilty of grave misconduct in 2014 for submitting falsified evidence for the drug sting, but their initial penalty of dismissal from service was downgraded to a one-rank demotion after they filed an appeal.
AdChoiceTV News, Robi Chan contributed to this report
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