Duterte bares two generals involved in drugs
Manila: president rodrigo“rody” duterte revealed the involvement of two generals “still in active service” to illegal drugs even as the chief of the Philippine National Police (PNP) remained under heavy fire for allegedly “coddling” 13 of his men, including a demoted officer, suspected as “ninja cops,” or those recycling drugs seized in raids for resale to the public.
Duterte made the revelation in a forum, attended by other world leaders, Russian officials, academicians and journalists in Sochi, Russia where he made his second state visit since he became president in 2016.
“And right now even as I fly here and go back, there are about two generals who are still playing with drugs,” Duterte said based on a transcript of his statement of the interview he made in Sochi and released by Malacanang Palace.
The president also strongly defended his war on drugs amid charges of rampant human rights violations including extra-judicial killings, pointing our he aimed mainly “to protect our Republic from those who wish to tear it apart.” However, Duierte failed to clarify whether the two generals still involved in illegal drugs, particularly shabu (crystal meth) belonged to the military or the police. And neither did he identify them.
This developed as General Oscar Albayalde, the embatled PNP chief, continued to remain under heavy fire at the powerful Senate Blue Ribbon Commitee which is investigating ninja policemen.
Albayalde was accused of allegedly coddling 13 of his men, all anti narcotics agents, who were denounced for under-reporting huge amounts of illegal drugs they had seized from a suspected drug lord in 2013 when he was still the police chief of Pampanga province in Central Luzon.
In particular, the team, headed by Major Rodney Baloyo, were accused of reporting only the seizure of 36 kilogrammes of shabu instead of their total haul of 200 kilogrammes as well as huge amount of cash they had seized from a raid in the house of suspected drug lord Johnson Lee in the town of Mexico, Pampanga in 2013.
An investigation resulted in the order for dismissal of Baloyo and his men, but this was reduced to their one-rank demotion allegedly when Albayalde alleged intervened when he was the regional police director for Metro Manila.
Albayalde has repeatedly denied the accusation and instead blamed his detractors for raising the issue before he is to retire as the PNP chief on Nov.5 this year.
But on Thursday, the commitee members, headed by Senator Richard Gordon, unanimously voted to cite Baloyo for contempt for “lying” and being “evasive” in his testimony and ordered his immediate detention at the national penitentiary in suburban Muntinlupa City in Metro Manila.