GMA to PNP: Cleanse ranks

President Arroyo ordered Philippine National Police chief Director General Leandro Mendoza yesterday to cleanse the PNP of "scalawag remnants" believed responsible for turning Camp Crame into the country’s center of drug trafficking.

The President stressed that the PNP, as an institution, is strong and dedicated to the rule of law, "but undeniably there were officials and men in the past who abused their authority, enriched themselves and broke the law."

"Thankfully, most of them are out of the service. But there may still be scalawags in the service who have to be expunged," the President said.

Mrs. Arroyo instructed Mendoza to use evidence gathered in the ongoing Senate inquiry into allegations by a former police asset.

Mary "Rosebud" Ong, a former agent of the PNP Narcotics Group and the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Task Force, has accused former PNP chief and now Sen. Panfilo Lacson and his men of being involved in the traffic of illegal drugs in 1998.

"The information and evidence from the Senate investigation will be used to cleanse the PNP, a viable institution for nation-building, and to make it even stronger," the President said.

During her weekly press conference at Malacañang yesterday, Mrs. Arroyo defended the PNP under the leadership of Mendoza, who helped thwart an attempt to take over Malacañang on May 1.

"I commended them then, and will continue to recognize similar heroic acts during my presidency," she said.

The President warned that certain anti-administration forces were taking advantage of the situation to destroy the image of the police organization.

"They want to make it appear that the entire PNP has been corrupted by drug money. That is not so," she said.

In a related development, the President approved yesterday the creation of the Anti-Drug Task Force under the supervision of the National Anti-Crime Commission (NACC) headed by Justice Secretary Hernando Perez.

Mrs. Arroyo said the new task force will replace the National Drug Enforcement and Prevention Coordinating Center (NDEPCC), which was created by former President Joseph Estrada.

She designated PNP Director Miguel Coronel, executive director of the NDEPCC, to head the new task force.