IT all started when Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong, a former CIDG chief, spilled the beans in the Senate about the Bilibid drug trade. To limit the impact of his disclosure, he asked for an executive session where detailof illegal transactions in the national penitentiary were revealed.
Right after the closed-door session, snippets of the two-hour secretive meeting started to leak out. No name wasmentioned yet as to the identity of the ‘drug queen,’ but the exposé that ‘ninja cops’ are still involved in recycling seized drugs quickly caught fire.
The recent exposes placed the troika of Magalong, PNP chief Gen. Oscar Albayalde, and PDEA chief Gen. Aaron Aquino on collision course. Hours later, police participation in drugs sparked a denial from the national policeleadership. Consequently, a tsunami of undercurrents started to hog the headlines.
First, the ‘drug queen,’ later identified as Guia Gomez Castro, unsworn chairman of Barangay 484, Zone 48 in Manila, left for Canada on Sept. 20, a day after the Senate public hearing. With her involvement in three court cases only belatedly uncovered, the mystery around her deepens.
Second, Gen. Albayalde was unabashedly linked to ‘ninja cops’ while still assigned in Pampanga. Expectedly, he denied it and expressed readiness to attend the Senate hearing to clear his name. On the side, the Palace issued a statement saying the President still trusts the PNP chief who tagged as legacy of the previous administration.
Third, as if prompted, the ‘drug queen’s’ constituents started praising her to high heavens for good deeds after law enforcement revelations claimed she earned billions from illicit drugs and even gifted ‘ninja cops’ and public officials with expensive sports utility vehicles.
Fourth, the PNP recalled all security escorts of Gen. Aquino and ordered them to report to their units. This followed the PDEA chief’s disclosure that rogue policemen still operate as ‘ninja cops,’ who the PNP claimed have already been busted. It required presidential intervention before the escorts were returned.
And fifth, Sen. Richard Gordon, alarmed by the turn of events, told Mayor Magalong to inform the Senate should he need more security officers following the recall of Gen. Aquino’s escorts.
Things are getting messy now. We hope these kinks are ironed out soon before one finds his way to the nearest funeral parlor. Frankly, there lies somewhere.
