By VANNE TERRAZOLA
The Senate Justice and Blue Ribbon Committees have recommended the filing of graft charges against resigned Philippine National Police chief Police Gen. Oscar Albayalde over the anomalous buy-bust operation in 2013.
Sen. Richard Gordon, chairman of the two committees, yesterday released the report on the legislative inquiry on the alleged drug recycling by so-called “ninja cops.”
He said Albayalde, then Pampanga provincial police director, was as “guilty” as his former men who tampered documents and pieces of evidence following their Nov. 29, 2013 operation in Mexico, Pampanga. “All of them, including Albayalde, are guilty of malfeasance,” Gordon said.
Gordon, citing the 46-page committee report, enumerated the irregularities that transpired in the 2013 Pampanga drug bust against a certain Johnson Lee, an alleged Chinese drug lord, who the 13 cops later freed in exchange for some P50 million.
He described the operations as “illegal” as it did not follow police protocols, especially in handling the evidence seized from the alleged drug lord.
A summary of the committee said Albayalde was among the “people responsible” for the anomalous operation.
The panel recommended filing of graft cases against the former top cop for violation of Section 3 of the Republic Act No. 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act primarily for supposedly blocking the dismissal order against his former men.
During the marathon Senate hearings on the ninja cop issue, former Central Luzon police chief now Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency Director-General Aaron Aquino revealed that Albayalde called him in 2016 to ask him not to implement the dismissal recommendation on the 13 Pampanga cops.
Later, retired Police Brig. Gen. Rudy Lacadin, who was also a Central Luzon police head, bared that Albayalde admitted over their phone conversation that “kaunti lang napunta sa akin” from the 2013 drug bust.
Section 3 (a) of the RA 3019 considers as corrupt practice “persuading, inducing, or influencing another public officer to perform an act constituting a violation of rules and regulations duly promulgated by competent authority or an offense in connection with the official duties of the latter.”
For his calls to Aquino and Lacadin, the committee also found Albayalde liable for “dereliction of duties” and violating the Article 208 of the Revised Penal Code, which prohibits public officers from “instituting prosecution for the punishment of violators of the law, or (tolerating) the commission of offenses.”
Albayalde, it added, should also be criminally charged for supposedly failing to account the illegal drugs and other pieces of evidence seized from the 2013 drug bust.
The report stated that the police general “profited from the sale of shabu” made by his men, citing his alleged admission that he only got a little from it. The report also maintained that Albayalde, being the commander, was on top of the operation.
Albayalde and his men should also be charged for causing “injury” to the State, Lee, and the certain Ding Wen Kun who was arrested in replacement of Lee.
Gordon had repeatedly mentioned Albayalde’s failure to act against his men despite investigation from the PNP headquarters.
Instead, Albayalde gave himself and the 13 cops commendations for their “achievements” in the drug bust.
“The best time to fight for his men was on the very first stage of the action. But he chose surreptitious, sneaky, behind-the-scene means,” Gordon said.
Gordon also described as “unforgivable” Albayalde’s move to reassign, and even promote the erring cops to other posts, which, he said, allowed them to commit anew anomalies in police operations.
“Mabigat sa akin ‘yong binalik niya tapos nang-hold up ulit. Mabigat ‘yon. Unforgivable ‘yon. That shows na talagang gusto kong bigyan ng career ulit (‘yong mga tao),” he said.
He cited the May 4, 2019 questionable anti-drug operation in Antipolo City involving four of the 13 Pampanga policemen. The PNP has recommended the dismissal of the involved cops.
While it was not part of the Senate probe, Gordon said the incident as proof of Albayalde’s liability.
Gordon, however, stressed that the recommended charges against Albayalde was not only based on the testimonies by the former police generals, but also from investigations conducted by the PNP on the controversial drug bust.
These, he said, all form part of a strong circumstantial evidence of Albayalde’s involvement in the operation, since former police officer “did not defend himself adequately” during the Senate inquiry.
He said he will leave it to the proper authorities, such as the Department of Justice and the Ombudsman, to decide whether or not to pursue these charges against Albayalde.
As for the 13 Pampanga cops led by Police Major Rodney Baloyo, the Gordon-led panel recommended the filing of charges for violation of the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002 and Civil Code, as well as robbery and unlawful arrest.
The Senate panel also supported the strengthening of the Internal Affairs Service and make it a “truly independent” institution from the PNP.
The committee is also looking to amend the RA 9165, to mandate “persons of good repute” such as retired judges or lawyers, to monitor if the operation procedures and chain of custody were followed by law enforcers.
UPDATED
