Senate OKs ninja cops reveal

Senate President Vicente Sotto III on Tuesday announced that the Senate has given its Blue Ribbon Committee the green light to make public the identities of “ninja cops” who allegedly “recycle” illegal drugs that are seized in police operations.

In a statement, Sotto said that the plenary voted 17-0 in favor of releasing the names of the rogue cops involved in the so-called “Agaw-bato” scheme — in which cops sell the illegal drugs they seized in narcotics operations.

Earlier, Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Police General Oscar Albayalde said that of the 87 policemen previously suspected of ties to the narcotics trade, only seven remained under watch.

To recall, the names and information were gathered during the Blue Ribbon and Justice Committees executive session last week with a retired top police official — who submitted the names of the ninja cops to the Senate.

During that session, PNP official-turned-Baguio Mayor Benjamin Magalong told lawmakers that a “high-ranking” police official was allegedly protecting subordinates engaged in drug activities.

Magalong, former chief of the police Criminal Investigation and Detection Group, accused several Pampanga policemen of recycling drugs back in 2007, when Albayalde was still the province’s chief.