EDITORIAL - Weeding out dirty cops

These are the ones who didn’t get away. As of last Thursday, 10 active and former members of the Philippine National Police were under the custody of various PNP units for the alleged staged seizure of 990 kilos of shabu valued at P6.7 billion in Tondo, Manila in October 2022. The 10, nine of whom were arrested while one surrendered, include a lieutenant colonel, a major, a captain and a lieutenant.

Of the 29 who were ordered arrested by a Manila regional trial court, 20 are still in the active service while the rest have retired, resigned or been dismissed from the PNP. They are accused of involvement in a “grand conspiracy” related to the drug bust in which then master sergeant Rodolfo Mayo Jr. of the PNP Drug Enforcement Group was arrested and then released. The highest ranking officials implicated in the alleged conspiracy are former PNP operations chief Lt. Gen. Benjamin Santos Jr. and former PDEG director Brig. Gen. Narciso Domingo.

Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla said there is conclusive proof that the PNP members were involved in the sale or distribution, staged arrest or “huli-dap” and then the cover-up of the operations allegedly supervised by Mayo.

In 2023, a probe of what Remulla described as a “grand conspiracy to conceal a criminal enterprise” had been launched by the interior department. The indictments were brought against about 30 police officers on Dec. 10 last year, for planting of evidence as well as bungling and delay in the prosecution of drug cases, in violation of Republic Act 9165, the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002. The raiders allegedly skimmed 42 kilos of the confiscated shabu before inventory of the drugs, as indicated in surveillance footage.

The volume of the shabu seized in the operation is unusually large, but the illegal activities during anti-narcotics operations are not unusual, and have long been a bane in law enforcement. Many police officers have been prosecuted for planting evidence in drug cases. Skimming of seized drugs and reselling them in the streets led to the indictment of former PNP chief Gen. Oscar Albayalde for allegedly coddling so-called “ninja cops” in Pampanga.

Even the summary execution of drug suspects had been going on long before Rodrigo Duterte became mayor of Davao City and then president, although if the allegations against him are correct, he took it to horrific levels.

The indictment of PNP officials including generals implicated in the P6.7-billion shabu bust is a positive step. But it must be complemented by efforts to initiate lasting reforms that will prevent a repeat of the abuses.