Follow due process

We assure our people that the PNP remains on track with renewed vigor to reform itself into the ideal shape to fight crime, illegal drugs and corruption.

Due process will be followed and no prejudgment should take place following the recommendation of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee to make resigned Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Gen. Oscar Albayalde and 13 other personnel embroiled in the “ninja cops” controversy accountable for graft charges.

“The PNP will let justice, fairness and due process take its course. All accused remain innocent until proven guilty,” PNP spokesman Brig. Gen. Bernard Banac said.

Sen. Richard Gordon, chairman of the Blue Ribbon and Justice and Human Rights committees, earlier released the panels’ initial report recommending that Albayalde and his former subordinates at the Pampanga Provincial Police Office be slapped with graft complaints over their alleged involvement in the recycling and reselling of seized narcotics.

Banac left it to Albayalde and the others accused to dispute the charges, saying their respective legal teams should address other side issues related to their possible criminal indictment as recommended by the Senate panel.

“We assure our people that the PNP remains on track with renewed vigor to reform itself into the ideal shape to fight crime, illegal drugs and corruption,” he added.

The spokesman also acknowledged President Rodrigo Duterte’s dismay and his call for reforms to arrest the eroding image of the police force.

“We fully understand his (President Duterte) frustrations and misgivings over the recent turn of events involving some PNP personnel. But we will not let him down,” Banac said.

“We assure our people that the PNP remains on track with renewed vigor to reform itself into the ideal shape to fight crime, illegal drugs and corruption,” he concluded.

Albayalde on 14 October announced he was relinquishing his post as the country’s top cop and went on a “non-duty status” ahead of his 8 November retirement.

With his resignation, Lt. Gen. Archie Francisco Gamboa, Albayalde’s batchmate from the Philippine Military Academy’s (PMA) Sinagtala Class of 1986, was designated as officer-in-charge of the PNP.

Senate President Vicente Sotto III said the report on the probe will also touch on the Good Conduct Time Allowance (GCTA) controversy from where the “ninja cops” revelations cropped up.

“I have read the report, there is another committee report on GCTA, it is being completed, these issues are very controversial, there will be three main committee reports,” Sotto related.

“As of now it is a draft, the official report may come out on 4 November,” the Senate head noted.

“The report should be tackled in the plenary, the past practice of releasing a draft to media then be forgotten after just like what happened in the (Senate Blue Ribbon subcommittee) probe of former Vice President Jejomar Binay then all of those were merely forgotten,” Sotto recalled.

Sotto described the probe report as a “faithful reproduction” of the hearing.

“In the committee report, whenever Gen. Albayalde was confronted with an adverse allegation, his reply was always in the context of him being targeted. He even indicated that if the allegations are true, why was he not charged? Those are not the right answers. What he should have delved on was to contest the charges against him and explained why those were not true,” according to the Senate chief.

The Senate Blue Ribbon Committee had released a preliminary report saying the former police chief and his men violated provisions of anti-graft and anti-drug laws when they allegedly sold at least 160 kilograms of shabu worth around P648 million seized in a raid in 2013.

The committee – chaired by Gordon – said in its report that the 13 “ninja cops” tried to cover up the incident, while Albayalde intervened in the implementation of sanctions against his former subordinates.

President Duterte earlier warned “ninja cops” and rogue police officers that he could be “more evil” than them and “create hell for everybody” in his last two years in office.

Just recently, PNP officials received a 30-minute dressing down from the President and was put to shame — admitting its credibility took a hit over the involvement of some officers in a drug recycling scandal.

The PNP is the chief implementor of the drug war, which has killed over 5,000 suspects, alarming human rights groups here and abroad. They believe the death toll is much higher.

But according to PNP data, only 454 policemen have been banished from the organization as of 20 September this year for drug-related cases, while only 102 of them were dismissed for cases such as narcotics possession or sale, or coddling drug pushers. The rest were removed for testing positive for drug use.

Banac earlier revealed that the President spent a fourth of Tuesday’s two-hour command conference in Malacañang telling top police officials about his disappointment over the drug recycling scandal.

He added that the President reminded the group how much support he has been providing the police force in the form of equipment and higher salaries.

“We were really ashamed. Our heads were bowed,” said Banac. “But we take it positively. We take it as a challenge to recover.”

The PNP spokesman added that the change in leadership will provide a “fresh start” for the PNP to go harder on rogue police officers and focus more on “high-value” targets in the narcotics trade and those involved in drug recycling no longer exist as a syndicate.

But some of them may have still continued keeping portions of a drug haul in their individual capacities, Banac said.

“They are few but they give a negative image to the PNP,” Banac said.

Meantime, a House bill has been filed to separate the Internal Affairs Service from the PNP to allow a more independent investigation into police misdemeanor.

“If Congress views it differently… we are ready to discuss it further,” he added.

“For now, we prefer the status quo. We are at ease that we have them as our watchdog,” he added.