Class act

“Albayalde is apparently after maintaining the morale of the police force amid the challenges posed by the ninja cops scandal.

Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Oscar Albayalde in giving way to President Rody Duterte to appoint a replacement ahead of his retirement on 8 November is a show of courage and selflessness.

The Senate investigation on the infamous narcotics raid in Pampanga where 200 kilograms of seized shabu were reduced to 28 kilos through some evil spell had concluded and the report, according to Blue Ribbon Committee chairman Sen. Richard Gordon, will soon be known and it will include recommended sanctions against Albayalde.

During the Senate probe on the so-called “ninja cops” that stemmed from a probe on the irregularities in the implementation of the Good Conduct Time Allowance Law, Albayalde was alleged to have tried to intervene in the implementation of the dismissal order against the 13 cops involved in the raid.

In the hearing, Baguio City Mayor and former PNP Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) director Benjamin Magalong and his then deputy Rudy Lacadin and erstwhile Central Luzon regional police director Aaron Aquino, now Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency head, all implicated Albayalde in the raid at Lakeshore View in Pampanga.

Albayalde said he would engage his accusers to a legal battle since his reputation has been put on the line. However, during yesterday’s flag-raising ceremony at Camp Crame, he said he would go on non-duty status that will effectively allow Rody to choose a replacement “if he so desires.”

The move of Albayalde was meant to back his earlier statement that he is leaving his fate to the President, who, in turn, had indicated that he is holding off until the results of the various probes on the Pampanga incident, including that of the Senate are in his hands.

Rody upon his arrival from a landmark visit to Russia said he wanted clear proof that will implicate the PNP chief to the “ninja cops” or police officers who recycled seized narcotics.

Albayalde is apparently after maintaining the morale of the police force amid the challenges posed by the “ninja cops” scandal that would have not been brought out had the government leadership been weak in its policy against illegal substances.

Rody had made it clear that he would not stop until the narcotics problem is eradicated through his war on drugs, despite the strong pushback from drug cartels that apparently are feeding financial resources to international groups, his political opponents and even foreign governments to demolish the Duterte administration.

Likewise, the target of the syndicates, which have been displaced by the unrelenting war on drugs, was to foment division within the PNP to erode the confidence of law enforcers and make them easy prey for corruption.

While the accusers of Albayalde are of impeccable integrity, the timing of the revelations linking him to illegal activities as the war on drugs is about to be won poses a huge question mark on the whole escapade.

Still, the presumption of innocence that Rody said should be given to Albayalde places the exchange of allegations into a my-word-against-theirs situation.

Albayalde was key in the reforms that led to the weeding out of police scalawags, thus denying agents of the drug mafia access to law enforcers and the government.

The broader view is that the drug cartel is a muscle flexing to warn that it can do damage to anybody who stands in its way including the entire government.

Albayalde knows this and the move of unity with Rody amid the crisis facing him and the PNP will be another setback to the narcotics industry who so seeks the return of the good old days under the yellow regime.