PNP won’t suspend ‘ninja cop’ in drug recycling

MANILA, Philippines — The 59-day suspension imposed on one of 13 “ninja cops” tagged in drug recycling will no longer be implemented, Philippine National Police (PNP) officer-in-charge Lt. Gen. Archie Francisco Garcia announced yesterday.

Gamboa said the suspension of Lt. Joven de Guzman for a less grave offense of command responsibility would not be carried out following a meeting with Internal Affairs Service (IAS) inspector general Alfegar Triambulo last week.

Gamboa said he remanded De Guzman’s case back to the IAS for a review to determine if he could be penalized for a more serious offense of grave misconduct.

De Guzman was among the police officers allegedly involved in an anomalous drug sting in Mexico, Pampanga in 2013.

Resigned PNP chief Gen. Oscar Albayalde was dragged into the controversy as he was the Pampanga police director at the time.

De Guzman and three other members of the group were tagged in another controversial anti-narcotics operation in Antipolo City on May 4.

They were found administratively liable for planting evidence, robbery and attempted murder.

In that operation, De Guzman led a seven-man team accused of stealing P66,300 in cash from a victim whom they attempted to pin down on drug charges.

Probe report out next week

Gamboa said he expects the final report of the probe on De Guzman’s case to be out next week.

“Bigyan lang natin ng chance si De Guzman mag-explain in a week’s time,” the acting PNP chief said.

De Guzman’s case was among the issues Gamboa and Triambulo discussed in a meeting on Friday.

The two threshed out differences after Triambulo’s public pronouncement that the IAS wanted to break away from the PNP.

Gamboa said he would recommend to the National Police Commission to strengthen the adjudicatory powers of the IAS to give the police investigating body more teeth in dealing with rogue police officers.

Under the current setup, the IAS is under the supervision and control of the PNP, thus their recommendations are subjected to the PNP chief’s review and approval.

“Hindi puwedeng maging final and executory iyung kanilang decision because by law the IAS is only an investigating body,” Gamboa said.

He also asked Triambulo to consolidate all their investigation reports on the 487 drug suspects who died in police custody since President Duterte assumed office in 2016.

Gamboa said he does not feel slighted with the report, adding that the IAS has the power to conduct investigations on these cases.