Senate committee to recommend charges vs. Albayalde —Gordon

The Senate blue ribbon committee will recommend the filing of charges against Philippine National Police chief Police General Oscar Albayalde over his alleged involvement in drug recycling and "ninja cops," according to Senator Richard Gordon on Saturday.

During the "In Focus" news forum in Quezon City on Saturday, Senate blue ribbon panel chair Gordon told reporters that his committee's report on the Senate's probe on the ninja cops issue is just awaiting the signatures of his fellow senators.

The report, he said, includes recommendations on what charges will be filed against the top cop.

"What charges? We don't know yet," the senator said.

Gordon, however, said that based on the testimonies and evidence gathered by the Senate panel, Albayalde may be criminally and administratively liable.

"It can be graft and corruption; at the very least, negligence. Pero pag-uusapan pa 'yun ng blue ribbon committee," he said.

"Malfeasance 'yung ginawa niyang paglapit. Malfeasance 'yung ginawa niya na hindi niya tsini-check if it's within the law. Nonfeasance 'yung 'di niya kinasuhan 'yung mga tao niya," Gordon said.

Very, very strong case

The senator said the panel can establish a "very, very" strong case against the top cop.

"Another general came, Lacadin... We have the circumstantial connection that if you put together you can really build up a very, very strong case criminally and administratively," Gordon said.

It was former Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) deputy director for operations Rudy Lacadin who bared in a Senate hearing that Albayalde had called him and said that he only got a small portion on the controversial buy bust operation conducted by police officers in Pampanga in November 2013. 

Just weeks before his retirement on November 8, the allegations against Albayalde came to the fore during a Senate inquiry into ninja cops or policemen who allegedly sell confiscated illegal drugs.

"I don't care if you're a retiree. If he is guilty even if he retires, puwede siyang habulin," Gordon said.

"The law says your retirement is not a bar for criminal prosecution or administrative cases. Automatic 'yun," he said.

Baguio City Mayor and former PNP Criminal Investigation and Detection Group chief Benjamin Magalong and Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) chief Aaron Aquino have accused the top cop of intervening in the implementation of a dismissal order against the 13 police officers involved in the allegedly anomalous drug operation by the Pampanga police in November 2013.

Albayalde was the chief of Pampanga police when the anomalous raid took place.

The 13 police officers allegedly let suspected drug lord Johnson Lee flee in exchange for P50 million while most of the 200 kilos of shabu confiscated during the operation were not declared and presumed to have been sold back to the drug market.

The PNP chief denied allegations that he was involved in any way with the operation and that he intervened in the implementation of a dismissal order on the 13 police officers involved.

The so-called "ninja cops" have all since been demoted by a rank instead of the initial recommendation that they all be dismissed.

"When go into filing a case, you have to find out anong law ang applicable sa kanya," Gordon said.

Asked if Albayalde is guilty, the senator said, "We can prove it."

"He really needs a strong lawyer," Gordon added.

During the Senate inquiry, Albayalde raised the possibility of a conspiracy to pin him down. —KG, GMA News