DOJ summons 13 ‘ninja cops’

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Justice (DOJ) has ordered 13 so-called “ninja cops” to attend the reinvestigation of their drug case next week.

Officials said the policemen are required to appear before a panel of prosecutors on Oct. 16 and submit additional evidence on the 2013 illegal drug case.

The panel of prosecutors led by Senior Assistant State Prosecutor Alexander Suarez issued the subpoena on the 13 policemen last Wednesday.

Summoned to attend the hearing were the team of Pampanga provincial police led by Maj. Rodney Baloyo IV.

The team raided the house of a suspected Chinese drug trafficker in Mexico town on Nov. 29, 2013. The raiders allegedly kept for themselves cash, vehicles and over 160 kilos of shabu with a street value at the time of over P650 million.

Suspected Chinese drug trafficker Johnson Lee was allegedly released by the raiders after he paid P50 million. In his stead, the raiders reportedly presented another Chinese identified as Ding Wengkun who was later acquitted of the charges.

The reinvestigation would focus on their alleged violation of Republic Act 9165, particularly on Sections 27 (misappropriation), 29 (planting) and 32 (custody and disposition) that were dismissed in 2017.

The dismissed drug complaints filed before the DOJ are subjected to automatic review.

The reinvestigation was triggered by the revelations at the Senate Blue Ribbon committee hearing investigating the ninja cops, or policemen recycling seized illegal drugs.

In the course of the Senate investigation, it was revealed that the 13 police officers were implicated in a questionable anti-illegal drugs operation in Pampanga in 2013.

The 13 policemen were supposed to have been dismissed for grave misconduct. But then Philippine National Police (PNP) Central Luzon chief and now Criminal Investigation and Detective Group (CIDG) Maj. Gen. Amador Corpus instead ordered their demotion and did not uphold the dismissal order in 2014.

Retired police generals, including now Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong and Rudy Lacadin, and Philippine Drug Enforcement Authority (PDEA) director general Aaron Aquino linked PNP chief Gen. Oscar Albayalde to the mess.

Albayalde was relieved as Pampanga provincial police director following the fallout caused by the controversial anti-drug operation.

Connecting the dots

Sen. Richard Gordon, chairman of the committee investigating the ninja cops issue, said Albayalde could face charges of neglect of duty and graft over the questionable anti-drug operations in Pampanga.

Gordon said the circumstantial evidence was based on the testimony of Lacadin, who was then the Central Luzon police regional director.

Lacadin testified that Albayalde called him up when he was doing a discreet investigation into the raid by Pampanga policemen. Albayalde was then director of Pampanga police.

“Yes, circumstantial evidence is a series of evidence that when you connect it comes out into logical conclusion that something has happened and it is acceptable as evidence, especially when you have this guy,” Gordon said.

Gordon added charges of graft against Albayalde are possible through negligence of duty.

“If he (Albayalde) has profited in the raid, that has to be proven, it is the other side of the spectrum. The minimum is neglect (of duty). Remember everything here is born out of the momentum,” Gordon said.

Gordon pointed out the testimony of Lacadin revealing Albayalde called him up concerning the status of the investigation.

“And then Albayalde called up Aquino. There seems to be an attempt to cover up… dismissal or demotion (of the policemen involved). Very, very sad chain of events for Albayalde,” he said.

Gordon said Albayalde could face, at least, neglect of duty and graft.

Albayalde denied all the accusations, saying he could not understand why everybody is apparently ganging up on him.

Gordon said the testimony of Lacadin during the hearing puts pressure on Albayalde’s credibility since the retired general himself conducted an investigation on the incident.

Lacadin said Albayalde told him that he received a small largesse from the drugs seized in the Pampanga raid.

Lacadin admitted it remains unclear to him whether the now PNP chief was joking.

He also said the raid was done in the morning, not in the afternoon as being insisted by the respondent policemen.

“Retired generals will not normally say that. I gave General Albayalde the whole time to (explain the details) but so many dispute him, all the (police) generals,” Gordon said.

At the previous hearing, Albayalde admitted signing the report of Baloyo that the raid on Nov. 29 took place at 4:30 p.m., contrary to the investigation of Lacadin and a team from the Criminal Investigation Detection Group (CIDG) then led by Magalong.

The CIDG team checked the logbook of the security guards at the subdivision gate which indicated the police operation was done at around 10 a.m.

Gordon said Albayalde was given all the chances to clear him name and dissociate himself from the rogue operation.

He also questioned why Albayalde was not included among those charged.

“We give him all the chances but the evidence seems to indicate that it (the raid) was not fully explained,” Gordon said.

Sen. Panfilo Lacson supported Gordon’s statement on the circumstantial evidence against Albayalde.

“The additional testimonies and documents presented in (Wednesday’s) hearing, particularly retired general Lacadin’s surprise revelation, has reinforced the other circumstantial evidence earlier gathered in previous hearings of the joint Senate committee,” Lacson said.

“Slowly but surely, the dots are being connected for the committee members to form a conclusion, at the very least on the cover-up of the erring policemen led by Major Baloyo. It may also have opened the possibility of General Albayalde being an accessory after the fact,” Lacson said.

Presumption remains the same

Despite the fresh allegations against Albayalde, President Duterte would still wait for the findings of the Senate and the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) on the ninja cops controversy before acting on the issue, Malacañang said yesterday.?Presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo could not say whether Duterte would consider the supposed phone call Albayalde made to his superiors asking for an update on the investigation on his men.

“He (Duterte) already said let the Senate investigate. Once they have the findings, let the secretary of DILG investigate and then he will have his findings, recommendations. The President will act on them,” Panelo said.

“Unless there is a statement to the contrary, the presumption is it remains the same,” he added.?According to Panelo, the President has not reacted to the new accusations against Albayalde.?Duterte has said he would not make a knee jerk reaction to the allegations against Albayalde, noting that the police chief also has the right to due process.?Panelo noted the Senate began its probe on the controversial premature release of inmates convicted of heinous crimes then segued to the issue of ninja cops.

What began as a probe on the misapplication of the Good Conduct Time Allowance (GCTA) law ended up with Albayalde being put on the spot.

Senate President Vicente Sotto III told critics to “zip it” following questions on the propriety and motivation of the ongoing Senate inquiry. “The direct answer would be: you are not monitoring the hearings because indeed the committee on justice and Blue Ribbon started an inquiry on GCTA which evolved into the influence in recycling and illegal activities in the BuCor (Bureau of Corrections). If there are illegal activities and recycling of illegal drugs influenced by those inside the BuCor who are already behind bars but are still drug lords, you cannot help but (investigate) these issues,” Sotto said.

“We want to clear the air also that this has been turned into a political scenario. Definitely, you are completely wrong when you say that because the events that have been unearthed transpired in 2013. It does not have anything to do with the drug war of the present administration. It has nothing to do with the present administration,” he said.

Sotto did not name names but he may be referring to Panelo, who last week in Moscow told reporters that he does not understand why the Senate probe has turned political, where it portrayed the administration’s war on drugs as failing.

Sotto said the only panel in the Senate that has motu proprio (initiative) powers and authorized to conduct any hearing concerning any public official or event, or “anything at all under the sun,” without any resolution or bill, is the Blue Ribbon committee.

“The Blue Ribbon can convene for an inquiry to find out how much you bought your ballpen if you are a public official. That’s how it is. So for those who are not familiar with the Senate rules, my message is: zip it,” he said. – Cecille Suerte Felipe, Paolo Romero, Alexis Romero