DOJ to look into Senate report on “ninja cops”

MANILA — The Department of Justice has welcomed the Senate report into "ninja cops" involved in drug recycling issue, which recommended the filing of charges against PNP chief Oscar Albayalde.

Sen. Richard Gordon said Albayalde, who was provincial director at the time of the controversial 2013 Pampanga drug bust, should be charged for being part of the "hulidap" incident.

Hulidap, a portmanteau of the words "huli" and "hold-up", refers to police officers staging an arrest to extort money from innocent civilians.

Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said the report of the Senate Blue Ribbon and Justice committees would be useful in the reinvestigation of the drug recycling and ninja cops case.

"Any relevant evidence presented during the Senate hearings may be adopted or presented by any interested party during the DOJ reinvestigation," Guevarra said in a statement.

The Justice chief said the PNP Criminal Investigation and Detection Group may change its complaint in case there is basis for including Albayalde in the charges.

"Needless to say, any new or additional respondent will be given sufficient opportunity to submit his counter-affidavit and other controverting evidence as part of procedural and substantive due process," the DOJ chief said.

Albayalde, Major Rodney Baloyo IV and other alleged Pampanga "ninja cops" are guilty of malfeasance, misfeasance and nonfeasance, according to Gordon.

Earlier this week, the DOJ reopened its investigation into the 2013 Pampanga drug raid in connection to the ninja cops issue, where 13 cops were accused of making off with shabu worth P648 million.

Albayalde, meanwhile, had stepped down as PNP chief following allegations of coddling the so-called ninja cops.

“After careful thought and deliberation, I have come to the decision to relinquish my post as chief PNP effective today and go on a non-duty status,” Albayalde announced Monday.