MANILA, Philippines — Threats on the life of dismissed police M/Sgt. Rodolfo Mayo were revealed yesterday by Interior and Local Government Secretary Benhur Abalos.
In an interview with The STAR, Abalos said he has tasked the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology to tighten security now that Mayo has been transferred to the BJMP facility in Taguig City.
“He is being secured and there is CCTV (closed-circuit television camera) just to make sure that the activities inside the prison cell are being monitored,” Abalos said.
Abalos is convinced that someone like Mayo, a former anti-narcotics cop in whose office in Tondo, Manila 990 kilos of shabu worth P6.7 billion were seized last year, could hold other valuable information on drug trafficking.
At present, the jail cell holding Mayo is shared only by his co-accused Ney Atadero. They have been isolated from the general population and three inmates who used to occupy the same detention cell.
“We should always anticipate (the threat to Mayo’s life) as it (his case) involves drugs. These are drugs and he could be a key to other valuable information,” said Abalos, who as head of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) has jurisdiction authority over the BJMP.
Earlier, Abalos had ordered 10 high-ranking Philippine National Police (PNP) officials to take a leave of absence while they are being investigated for their involvement in an alleged cover-up of Mayo’s arrest over the seizure of the drug haul.
Abalos also created a separate fact-finding team led by National Police Commission (NAPOLCOM) vice chairman Alberto Bernardo to probe the extent of the conspiracy involving the seized 990 kilos of shabu from Mayo, from which 42 kilos were allegedly pilfered by cops and caught on CCTV video.
The DILG chief said he expects the fact-finding team to finish its probe in two weeks, even if he did not set a timeframe for the investigation.
“What is important is to gather all evidence, verify by interviewing all of those actors, those who are in the video, and determine what really transpired. That is very important,” he said.
Abalos ordered a separate fact-finding investigation from NAPOLCOM after criticizing the delay in the investigation of the Special Investigation Task Group (SITG) created by the PNP to investigate the missing 42 kilos of shabu.
Before his retirement as PNP chief, Gen. Rodolfo Azurin Jr. ordered the creation of the “SITG 990” to uncover the circumstances of the pilferage of 42 kilos of the drug evidence.
Abalos supports the decision of the Senate to invite Azurin during the investigation on the alleged cover-up of Mayo’s arrest even though he had already retired from the service.
“The Senate investigation is always in aid of legislation. What is important for us is to always know the truth and by knowing the truth, we know what actions to take and to finally put an end to the controversy once and for all,” Abalos said.
Azurin continues to deny a cover-up and has vouched for the integrity of the two highest ranking officials who were forced to go on leave – former PNP deputy chief of operations, Lt. Gen. Benjamin Santos Jr., and Drug Enforcement Group director Brig. Gen. Narciso Domingo.
On the other hand, Abalos said that once investigations are conducted and cases are filed against police officers accused of violations, it becomes a matter of public record.
For his part, newly installed PNP chief Gen. Benjamin Acorda Jr. said there would be no public humiliation of police officers accused of illegal deeds under his watch.
The DILG secretary has spoken positively about his relationship with Acorda, with whom he worked when he was the mayor of Mandaluyong City and Acorda was the chief of the Eastern Police District.
Intel ops vs bad cops
Embarking on a mission to rid the PNP of misfits, Acorda has ordered intelligence-driven operations to unmask and arrest police scalawags.
Drawing from his experience as an intelligence officer, the PNP chief has directed all intelligence units to keep tabs on officers suspected of involvement in illegal drugs and other nefarious activities.
“I made it clear also to our commanders that CI, counter-intelligence, is also a part of their job, meaning they will monitor the activities of their subordinate officers,” Acorda said at his command conference last Tuesday.
By strengthening the Integrity Monitoring and Enforcement Group and the Internal Affairs Service, which are responsible for handling administrative cases of erring police personnel, he aims to flush out all the “bad eggs” from the PNP.
In a bid to win public engagement, Acorda urged citizens to report suspected rogue police officers.
4 cops deny unlawful arrest
Meanwhile, four police officers suspected of unlawfully arresting a woman for alleged drug possession denied they were the ones caught on CCTV footage while arresting one Ma. Victoria Perito in Antipolo City in late 2022.
Maj. Juan Carlo Porciuncula, Corporals John Olano and Pasul Pigcaulan, and Patrolman Mark Peregrino all denied being in the video during the hearing conducted by the House committee on public order and safety.
The panel’s chairman, Rep. Dan Fernandez of Laguna, conducted the hearing to verify the claims of Perito, who had earlier sought the help of Antipolo Rep. Romeo Acop so that charges of kidnapping can be filed against the four.
Based on the CCTV footage, four plainclothes men ran toward Perito and forced her into a car.
Perito, who was arrested along with her eight-year-old son, had denied the drug charges against her, claiming she was only asked to hand over an envelope to a male person who turned out to be a policeman.
The little boy claimed that policemen repeatedly slapped his mother every time they were not satisfied with the answers she gave them during an interrogation.
Fernandez warned the police officials that the faces of the men in the video footage will be known once the CCTV copy is enhanced by experts, and that their faces will be submitted to the court. “If you keep on lying, then definitely you will have a very big problem,” said the congressman.
Fernandez added that since no one among them admitted they were in the video, then it only follows that Perito can now be freed on the basis that there is no drug case against her. — Emmanuel Tupas, Delon Porcalla