Magalong could have caused dismissal of Pampanga cops in questioned drug bust —Albayalde

Philippine National Police chief Police General Oscar Albayalde questioned Tuesday the motive of Baguio City Mayor and Criminal Investigation and Detection Group head Benjamin Magalong in linking him in the alleged illegal activities of his men when he was the head of Pampanga police.

“Hindi ko po alam kung ano ang gustong ipalabas ni General Magalong but as I’ve said, we have papers here that would show that we are  dead serious in the fight against illegal drugs and  against scalawags,” Albayalde said in reply to Magalong’s statement during the Senate hearing.

“We do not know kung ano pa po ang gusto naming ipalabas sa inyo, sa publiko, kung ano pa ang dapat naming sabihin  dito,” he added.

Albayalde said Magalong, being the third highest official of the PNP during his time, could have also done something to address the problem on illegal drugs.

“Let me again bring back the issue… we are seemingly being blamed on the problem on illegal drugs now. My question is bakit po ganito kalaki ang problema natin sa ilegal na droga when in fact there are people there like General Magalong,” Albayalde said.

“He was the CIDG chief then, he was the director of DIDM (Directorate for Investigation and Detective Management), he could have done everything with all his power, with all his authority to address this matter,” he added.

He further said Magalong could have followed up the status of the dismissal order on the 13 Pampanga police officers allegedly involved in drug recycling.

“When these people were supposed to be dismissed in 2014, back in 2014, General Magalong was still the DIDM chief, he could have followed it up. Now after six years this became an issue again,” he said.

Magalong, for his part, said when he was the DIDM head, after his stint at the CIDG, he was supervising all the investigation of all the units of the PNP.

“I cannot simply be very specific on things, you should be looking at a bigger picture. During that time, I keep on following up ano na ang nangyari sa kaso nina (Superintendent Rodney Raymundo) Balayo. Nagtataka kami,” he said.

“Hindi ko na tinutukan ang administrative case for the simple reason that it is already in the hands of the regional director,” he said.

Nevertheless, Magalong added, “I was following up the criminal case [against the 13] in national prosecutors service. I was told, wala pa, hanggang nag-retire na ko. Believe me, I have done all my best, without mental reservations. Ang sinasabi ko [lang rito], bakit special ang grupo na ito sa kanya, pinakiusapan na huwag ma-dismiss, na demote na lang. Magaganda pa ang kanilang pwesto.

“Is that the way we clean the PNP ranks? Hindi ko sinasabing nakinabang siya. Ang sinasabi natin, he has a lot of things to explain. This is not a clash of classes, clash of generals, I have nothing against him. This is a fight between good and evil, right and wrong. Which side are you on? My choice is to be on the side of good.” 

In November 2014, then Region 3 police director Chief Superintendent Raul Petrasanta ordered the dismissal of the 13 for grave misconduct. However, the order was not implemented.

In 2017, Region 3 police chief Amador Corpuz signed an order demoting the 13 by one rank. — Llanesca Panti/NB, GMA News