PNP chief confronts 9 cops bashing him

The tough-talking cops in the social media suddenly turned into meek sheep when they were confronted by the person they repeatedly trolled on Facebook — national police chief Director General Oscar Albayalde. “I talked to them; I made them realize that what they did was wrong. I told them that as members of uniformed service, we have rules and regulations on how to air their grievances,” said Albayalde.

But of the 11 policemen summoned at the office of Albayalde, only nine surfaced yesterday morning. Two others, including a junior officer with a rank of Senior Inspector, did not show up.

It all started when Albayalde, then chief of the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO), relieved policemen who he caught sleeping inside the police stations during his surprise inspections.

While he is not actually in social media, Albayalde said he has been repeatedly told by his staff that some of the policemen have been trolling him in a Facebook page named “Buhay Lespu.” The commentaries ranged from accusing Albayalde of media grandstanding to cursing him.

The troll-cops thought that they could get away with it — until Albayalde was named as the successor of retired PNP Chief Ronald dela Rosa.

With the help of his staff and some techies in the PNP, the trolling cops were identified and were later summoned through letters to meet Albayalde in his office at Camp Crame in Quezon City.

“They were apologetic and I expected that,” said Albayalde when asked of his meeting with the policemen.

“I reminded them that all members of the uniformed service cannot fully exercise the same rights as their civilian companions. We have rules; we have procedures on how to air grievances if they have any. And airing it through social media in improper language is not one of them,” he added.

Albayalde said that some of the trolls are assigned to various units that include Aviation Security Group, Navotas Police, Cavite Police and as far as Leyte.

During the confrontation, the policemen told Albayalde that they made the comment since they felt that the police profession is being shamed and ridiculed due to the surprise inspection and subsequent relief of those who were caught sleeping while on duty.

What saddened him, according to Albayalde, is that some of those who trolled him are those with a rank of Police Officer 1 who happen to be the biggest winner of the salary increase as their salary was doubled from almost P15,000 to almost P30,000.

Aside from the nine cops who surfaced and the other two who snubbed the summon, Albayalde said there are some 20 more cops who were identified to have maligned him in the social media.