Duterte to let Congress finish probe into ninja cops before taking action

Malacañang announced on Saturday that President Rodrigo Duterte will let Congress finish its probe into ninja cops, or cops involved in drug recycling, before taking any action.

"The President, however, will let Congress do and finish its investigation in aid of legislation before taking any formal action on the issue of these ninja cops," presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo said in a statement.

President Rodrigo Duterte, who is on a five-day official visit to Russia, on Thursday bared that two "generals" remained engaged in the illegal drug trade.

"When I took over, I found out about nine generals were involved in the trafficking of drugs," Duterte said at the Valdai Forum in Russia.

"And right now, even as I fly here and go back, there are about again two generals who are still playing with drugs. And I said, 'Well, I told you do not destroy my country because it is being flooded with drugs,'" he added.

Panelo said Duterte was referring to Philippine National Police generals accused of having protected ninja cops.

"He will wait for the recommendation of the DILG [Department of the Interior and Local Government] Secretary when he is finished with his internal investigation," he said.

Panelo added that Duterte is continuing to monitor developments in the country while he is in Moscow and Sochi for commitments.

"The President’s unyielding posture against illegal drugs and those who destroy the country, regardless of whether they belong to the government, by spreading these substances in our communities, will not waver. As our Chief Executive has mentioned in many occasions, there will be hell to pay for those who become worse than criminals," he said.

Senator Richard Gordon on Thursday said PNP chief Police General Oscar Albayalde "dropped the ball" when it came to dealing with 13 erring subordinates allegedly involved in drug recycling when he was Pampanga provincial chief of police.

Gordon leveled the rebuke at Albayalde after the PNP chief kept on saying that he presumed regularity in the drug bust conducted by his men in Mexico, Pampanga in 2013.

The police officers declared 36 kilos of illegal drugs confiscated when in fact 200 kilos of illegal drugs were seized by 13 police officials led by Police Lieutenant Colonel Rodney Raymundo Louie Baloyo.

During a Senate hearing on Tuesday, former chief of the PNP Criminal Investigation and Detection Group and incumbent Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong alleged that Albayalde intervened to relax the punishment of the 13 police officers in 2013.

Albayalde allegedly asked then-PNP Central Luzon Regional Director Aaron Aquino, now the chief of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency, not to implement the dismissal order against the said police officials.

The PNP chief admitted that he called Aquino but only to check the case status.

Makabayan Bloc lawmakers filed a resolution calling for the immediate resignation of officials linked to the controversy, along with Albayalde, to make way for a credible investigation into the issue.

Gordon said maybe Duterte will ask Albayalde to file for early retirement.

Albayalde is set to retire on November 8.

He said he believes the controversy is connected to his impending retirement and the next PNP chief. —KG, GMA News